Democratization and European standards of National minority protection: Polish issues

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Sanford
Keyword(s):  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
European Standards

scholarly journals Serbs as a new national minority in post-Yugoslav states

Sociologija ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-432
Author(s):  
Nada Raduski
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
European Standards ◽  
The Right ◽  
Bilateral Treaties

Recent political changes in states founded on the territory of the former Yugoslavia have resulted in profound changes in relation to minorities. The factual status of Serbian minorities in the neighboring countries has been influenced by various circumstances - demographic, political, legal, historical, etc. Outside Serbia, in former Yugoslav republics there are nearly half a million persons belonging to Serbian nationality who have the status of national minority. Although their social and legal status is defined according to European standards of minority protection, closer analysis points to a rather unfavorable status of Serbian minorities. A reason for such a situation may also be found in the poorly designed and insufficiently organized policy of the homeland country. Bilateral treaties are a way to protect more efficiently compatriots in other countries, as well as an efficient mechanism for better integration of minorities in all fields of social life in the territorial country. Minorities? rights stipulated in most bilateral treaties are the right to ethnic identity, linguistic rights, right to education, media rights, etc.

“Serbs” in Bela krajina: a (deliberately) forgotten minority?

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-194
Author(s):  
Romana Bešter ◽  
Miran Komac ◽  
Mojca Medvešek ◽  
Janez Pirc
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Border Region ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
National Minorities

There are three constitutionally recognized national/ethnic minorities in Slovenia: the Italians, the Hungarians and the Roma. In addition, there are other ethnic groups that could perhaps be considered as “autochthonous” national minorities in line with Slovenia's understanding of this concept. Among them is a small community of “Serbs” – the successors of the Uskoks living in Bela krajina, a border region of Slovenia. In this article we present results of a field research that focused on the following question: Can the “Serb” community in Bela krajina be considered a national minority? On the basis of the objective facts, it could be said that the “Serbs” in four Bela krajina villages are a potential national minority, but with regard to their modest social vitality and the fact that they do not express their desire for minority status, the realization of special minority protection is questionable.

The Inter-relationship between International and National Minority-Rights Law in Selected Western Balkan States

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-335
Author(s):  
Benedikt Harzl ◽  
Alice Engl
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Violent Conflicts ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThe violent conflicts that erupted after the breakup of communist regimes (especially in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) have gradually changed the standing of minority rights and minority protection: first, the differential treatment of minority groups has become a legitimate—if not necessary—instrument to guarantee equality and stability, and, second, minority-rights legislation and minority protection are increasingly regarded as a responsibility shared among national and international actors. This inter-relationship between international instruments and national legal provisions can be usefully observed particularly in the states that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia. Due to the necessity of ensuring peace and stability, the constitutions of these emerging states have been increasingly influenced by international norms and standards for minority protection—a process that can be characterized as the 'internationalization of constitutional law'. This article assesses these developments, at both the national and international levels, in order to shed light on the particular inter-relationship among these different layers, by looking at the example of selected Western Balkan states.

European Minority Protection: The Past and Future of a “Major Historical Achievement”

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 413-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Bowring
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The Past ◽  
European Standards ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractThis review essay questions whether European standards for the protection of minorities are “a major historical achievement”. Two questions are posed. Why has this development taken place in Europe? Why has it taken place since 1990? These questions are answered in the light of the historical and political context. After a brief account of the extraordinary experiment in minority rights protection in the inter-War period, the review turns to the origins of the Council and of the OSCE in the Cold War, and comments on the legitimacy and efficacy of these texts and mechanisms.

scholarly journals Minority rights and minority identities - Sámi in Finland and Sorbs in Germany

2001 ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Toivanen Reetta
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
National Movements ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Minority Identities

This paper deals with intemational minority rights and their meaning as an identityresource fr ethnic minorities. It asks why small national groups, such as the Sami andthe Sorbs, have not vanished, as was prophesied by modemisation theorists. In fact,the opposite has occurred. In Europe, small national minority groups are now clearlygaining more opportunities to invent their own "national" policies. After a short introductionthat provides some general background, 1discuss some common definitions ofminority rights and the specific meaning of 'minority identity' used in this paper. Then,1 show how minority rights and minority identities are linked to each other, and whyand how intemational minority protection treaties have become a part of the everydayvocabulary of Sami, Sorb and many other national movements. The examples 1 useoriginate mostly from my field studies with the Sorbs in Eastem Germany and the Samiin Northem Finland. 1 argue that not only the image of the group projected to itsmembers is influenced by these treaties, but that the definition of the group itself is alsochanged.

scholarly journals Ochrona praw mniejszości narodowych w orzecznictwie Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka oraz Komitetu Praw Człowieka ONZ – analiza porównawcza

2014 ◽  
pp. 7-28
Author(s):  
Grażyna Baranowska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Case Law ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Religious Clothing ◽  
State Schools

The article analyses case law concerning national minority protection in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and UN Human Rights Committee. The protection of national minorities is realized through protecting individual right of persons belonging to minorities. Due to significant amount of cases and given the importance of discussed issues, the analysis is restricted to three topics: names, education and political participation. The case law has set some important standards in those areas. In most of the analyzed aspects the approach of both organs has been the same, for example in regard to names and surnames of persons belonging to national minorities. The research also showed areas in which the case law was not consistent – while examining cases concerning the same French law regarding wearing of religious clothing by students in state schools, the UN Committee, contrary to the Court, found a violation by the state. However, in the vast majority of studied subjects, the jurisprudence of the Court and Committee is very similar and allows to formulate an international standard of national minority protection. Among national minorities indigenous people enjoy in some aspects greater protection than other groups, which is particularly evident in the Committee decisions.

scholarly journals European standards of minority protections - from conditionality to limitation: Case of Croatia

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Vesna Stankovic-Pejnovic
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Acquis Communautaire ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
European Standards ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Violent Conflicts ◽  
The Eu

EU promotes norms which lack a basis in EU law and do not directly translate into the acquis communautaire EU. Limits of EU conditionality in the area of minority rights are visible in closer look at the EU?s monitoring mechanism, including Regular Reports, which locate EU?s minority criterion in the domestic political context. Reports have structure broadly follows the Copenhagen criteria. Serious efforts are needed for achieving practical results flowing from the implementation of the legislative framework pertaining to minority issues. The same factors also affected the mechanisms? ability to influence that implementation. These factors concern the following: confusion regarding the juridical nature of the minority rights instruments, the vagueness or flexibility in the formulation of the standards, and unclarity as to the beneficiaries of the standards. Issue of soft instruments, vague norms and the lack of a definition of the beneficiaries of the norms will continue to trouble the minds of Governments, minorities, international mechanisms. EU must undertaking efforts to sharpen and further clarify the existing standards and to persuade Governments that existence of minority groups can enrich a society as a whole and that measures to preserve their specific characteristics will reduce the risks of violent conflicts. The case of Croatia, through Regular Reports, shows acceptation of European standards of minority protection in legal area, but with the limits in their implementation. In these circumstances Regular Reports describes attitude of EU toward minority issue; it is not priority of EU in accession process, difficulties in monitoring the implementation of minority issues and lack of precise definition norms in minority rights area.

scholarly journals Position of Serbian minorities in neighboring countries in the light of European integration and geopolitical processes

Vojno delo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Nada Raduški
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
National Minority ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
International Regulation ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Status ◽  
New States ◽  
European Standards ◽  
In The Beginning

Within contemporary geopolitical processes, respect for the rights of national minorities is no longer the discretion of a state, but rather is an indirect or direct international regulation of the minority issue. In the beginning of the 1990s, the political economical crisis and disintegration of the former SFRY opened the national question, that was considered to be permanently and successfully solved, in the most dramatic way, and ethnic conflicts and clashes followed the desintegration of the country. With the formation of a new states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the existence of numerous and different national minorities ("old" and "new") required a different approach to their protection and integration in complex political circumstances. Thus, the position of the so called new minorities drastically changed since they formed constituent nations in the former SFRY, while after secession they remained separated from their home nations and became national minorities almost overnight. Out of Serbia, in former Yugoslav republics live nearly half a million persons belonging to Serbian nationality as new national minority. The paper discusses the position and rights of the Serbian minority in the post Yugoslav states (Slovenia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro) as well as in some neighboring member states of the European Union (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria). In addition to the analysis of basic demographic indicators (number and spatial distribution) that determine the realization of the rights and freedoms of each minority, the paper examines the issue of protecting the national, cultural and linguistic identity of Serbs, as well as the ways of its preservation and improvement. Although the social and legal status of the Serbian minority is determined by European standards, the analysis points to their undefined status, since they still do not recognize the status of a national minority in some countries, and that they are in practice faced with more or less assimilation. In order to fully realize minority rights and improve the position of the Serb minority, ratified international documents, bilateral agreements, national laws, as well as well-designed policies and assistance from the home state are of great importance.Respecting basic human rights and freedom, as well as national minority protection, represent the basic factors of stability, security and democratic and socio-economic development of every country.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Reflections on the Recent Attempts to Reform the Austrian National Minorities Act of 1976

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-352
Author(s):  
Jürgen Pirker
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
One Step

From 2009 to 2012, the Austrian federal government conducted a political process to modernize the national legal framework for minority protection to support national minorities and further promote the linguistic and cultural diversity of Austria. A final draft for an amendment to the National Minorities Act of 1976 suggested reforming its legal terms with regard to a “modern and pluralistic society” and reconfiguring the National Minority Advisory Councils to the federal government (Volksgruppenbeiräte) following a “civil society-model” (zivilgesellschaftliches Modell). This article focuses on the implications and consequences of this intention.

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