Minority Rights as Group-Protective Rights: A Challenge for the International Law of Human Rights

2008 ◽  
pp. 247-258
Author(s):  
Nicola Wenzel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights

Minority Protection in International Law: From Standard-Setting to Implementation

1999 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-160
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
International Monitoring ◽  
State Compliance ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Minority Regime

AbstractIn recent years, minority issues regularly feature on the international agenda, due to growing concerns for human rights and stability. Minority rights instruments are being multiplied accordingly. While this is no doubt a welcome development, the fact that the effectiveness of any (present and future) minority regime remains to be tested through an adequate implementation machinery should not be overlooked. The aim of this paper is to examine the international monitoring mechanisms which are relevant to minority protection, with a view to discussing the prospects for improving State compliance. An overview of such mechanisms and a focus on some basic, contemporary elements of the resulting monitoring process, afford the basis for a set of forward-looking reflections on the problem of the implementation of minority rights standards. An attempt has been made at analysing the relevant patterns of scrutiny within a broad perspective, namely in relation to their real and/or potential impact on minority protection as embraced by international law.

Hungary: Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries

2001 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 1242-1253
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Republic

In order to comply with its responsibilities for Hungarians living abroad and to promote the preservation and development of their manifold relations with Hungary prescribed in paragraph (3) of Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary;Considering the European integration endeavours of the Republic of Hungary and in-keeping with the basic principles espoused by international organisations, and in particular by the Council of Europe and by the European Union, regarding the respect of human rights and the protection of minority rights;Having regard to the generally recognised rules of international law, as well as to the obligations of the Republic of Hungary assumed under international law

scholarly journals FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL MINORITY RIGHTS PROTECTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (20) ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
V.O. Nahorna
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
European Convention ◽  
National Minority ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Universal System ◽  
National Minorities

The article focuses on the evolutionary development of international legal regulation in the field of protection of the national minority rights from the Westphalian system of international relations to the present. The aspiration of non-dominant groups to preserve their cultural, religious, or ethnic background was manifested simultaneously with the emergence of nation-states in the seventeenth century. However, since then, the international community has not reached a consensus on the content of the concept of minority: a unified approach to the issue has not been elaborated in either international legal acts, law doctrine, or judicial practice. At the universal level, the protection of minority rights in international law was institutionalized only during the functioning of the League of Nations. The established procedures for the implementation and control over the observance of minority rights within the League of Nations were elaborated in sufficient detail and provided for effective collective security measures to resolve international disputes and problems arising in connection with the protection of minority rights. Indeed, this system also had a number of significant shortcomings that were subsequently taken into account when establishing mechanisms for the protection of minority rights within the United Nations. In reviewing international legal acts after 1945, the following general tendency should be emphasized. It concerns the adoption of a large array of documents in this field, most of which are advisory and general in nature. This is explained by the fact that minority issues are a sensitive area of public relations, and states are reluctant to make this sphere regulated by international law. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995) became the first legally binding legislative act on the protection of minorities in general, and this fact makes it fundamentally important. The absence of the norms directly aimed at the protection of national minorities in the catalog of rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) cannot but affects the efficient application of the mechanism of the European Court by national minorities. However, the link between human rights violations and minority rights allows the latter to fight for the restoration of individual human rights protected by the European Convention, which undoubtedly plays a positive role in the context of the protection of collective minority rights. Keywords: national minorities, periodization, universal system for the protection of human rights, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, ECHR.

The Protection of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in International Law: A Comparative Temporal Analysis

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-422
Author(s):  
Joshua Castellino
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
International Human

AbstractIt is easy to detect a sense of achievement with the extent to which the human rights regime has progressed 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The relative international successes suggest a bright outlook for the future of the human rights regime. However, an important lacuna remains in the attention that ought to be paid to minorities, indigenous peoples and others in vulnerable situations, including in some instances, women. This paper argues that despite the creation of sophisticated systems of international human rights law, the regimes for the protection of minority rights were stronger before the United Nations (UN) era. In support of this argument it seeks to assess regimes that existed at three different times, attempting to extrapolate and analyse the snapshots presented by these through the lens of evolving human rights law.

Democracy in International Law: A European Perspective

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
European Perspective ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
The Will

For lawyers in general, and international lawyers in particular, democracy is a neglected concept. Discourse is dominated by the ideas of human rights for individuals and minority or self-determination rights for groups. Those who seek greater protection for vulnerable members of a community argue for the recognition of new rights, or the more effective implementation of existing rights. They do not argue for more democracy. Indeed, given that claims for human and minority rights are not made only against authoritarian governments, but also democratic ones, there must exist an implied assumption that democracy is, by itself, not capable of protecting the interests of vulnerable minorities. Moreover, as the form of government which apparently venerates the will of the majority, democracy might be considered by some as being downright hostile to the interests of individuals and minorities.

The Legal Protection of Minorities from International Law and Arab Mashreq Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-579
Author(s):  
Jamal Barafi ◽  
Nael Georges
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Objective Analysis ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Instruments

The international protection of human rights, including those of religious minorities, has mainly developed through instruments adopted under the framework of the United Nations. After clarifying the concept of minorities, this article focuses on the legal protection of minority rights, particularly of religious minorities, under international instruments. It sheds light on the participation of Arab Mashreq states in the preparation of these instruments, in terms of their position in the elaboration of the instruments, and their multiple reservations. It offers an objective analysis of the issue of religious minorities in the Arab Mashreq region, and the necessity to respect their rights fully in order to build democracy and states of citizenship.

The Right to Insurgency: Sealand v. Lowland

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-119
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
The Right

The case put before the teams this year in the Telders Moot Court Competition, entitled The Right to Insurgency Case, combines problems of general international law withsome specific topics related to help for insurgents, intervention and effective government, as well as some human rights related issues such as the right to religious liberty and minority rights.

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