Minority Rights and Realpolitik: Justice-based vs. Pragmatic Arguments for Reserving Seats for National Minorities

In international law, minority rights instruments have been traditionally conceived for, and applied to, old minority groups with the exclusion of new minority groups originating from migration. Yet, minority groups, irrespective of their being old or new minorities, can be subsumed under a common definition and have some basic common claims. This allows devising a common but differentiated set of rights and obligations for old and new minority groups alike. This paper argues that the extension of the scope of application of legal instruments of minority protection, such as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), is conceptually meaningful and beneficial to the integration of new minorities stemming from migration.

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Access to Justice for National Minorities – A Recurrent Theme in the Work of the osce High Commissioner on National Minorities

International Journal on Minority and Group Rights ◽

10.1163/15718115-02402001 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 174-194

Author(s):

Laurentiu Hadirca

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Conflict ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Political Institution ◽

Access To Justice ◽

National Minorities ◽

Specific Advice ◽

High Commissioner ◽

Recurrent Theme ◽

Country Specific

This article provides an overview of the work of the osce hcnm on issues of access to justice for national minorities, based on a review of relevant thematic recommendations, country-specific advice, official statements, as well as other activities, projects and engagements of the hcnm. The article analyses how the hcnm’s specific mandate – as a political institution tasked to prevent inter-ethnic conflict, operating primarily through “quiet diplomacy” – has shaped its approach to human and minority rights, and to access to justice issues in particular. The overview shows that throughout the years, access to justice has become a recurrent, if at times tangential, theme for the institution. Overall, the article seeks to distil the general hcnm approach to access to justice issues as it was conveyed through a variety of thematic recommendations and guidelines, specific advice and other relevant engagements, undertaken in the course of the two-and-a-half decades of the institution’s existence.

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Immigration and Multicultural Citizenship in Europe: Insights from the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

International Journal on Minority and Group Rights ◽

10.1163/15718115-bja10048 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-31

Author(s):

Timothy Jacob-Owens

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Cultural Groups ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Conventional View ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

National Minorities ◽

Central Pillar ◽

Multicultural Citizenship ◽

Scope Of Protection

Abstract Multicultural citizenship, a set of group-differentiated rights for minority cultural groups, is now a common feature of most domestic legal systems in Europe. The conventional view, widely reflected in practice, suggests that ‘strong’ rights of this sort should be restricted to so-called ‘historical’ minorities. However, the increasingly long-standing presence of distinct cultural groups of immigrant origin raises the question of whether, and to what extent, the latter should also be granted stronger forms of multicultural citizenship. This article addresses this question by reference to the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, a central pillar of the international minority rights regime in Europe. The article analyses the application of the treaty to immigrant-origin groups in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, showing that the scope of protection afforded to such groups is stronger than previously assumed, though less far-reaching as compared to their ‘historical’ counterparts.

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Az erdélyi románok kisebbségjogi jogállása 1918 előtt

Erdélyi Jogélet ◽

10.47745/erjog.2020.02.02 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 27-57

Keyword(s):

18Th Century ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Minority Status ◽

Habsburg Empire ◽

Legislative Period ◽

National Minorities ◽

Hungarian State ◽

1848 Revolution

The purpose of the study is to explain the evolution of regulations that resulted in minority rights for Romanians living in Transylvania in the pre-1918 period. The study analyses in detail the advancement of the idea of “ nationalities” (in the meaning of national minorities) in the legislation from the last decade of the 18th century and presents the legal claims of the Transylvanian Romanians against the Habsburg Empire and the Hungarian Parliament. The authors present the Nationalities Act adopted in the 1848 revolution, but left without consequences, and examine the development of laws on minority rights during the legislative period following the Austrian-Hungarian settlement. The article discusses the grand debate on the act on nationalities, which took place in the Hungarian Parliament in 1868, and describes the later assimilation efforts by the majority lawmakers. The authors draw attention to the fact that non-Hungarian nationalities acquired a minority status only after the adoption of the Nationalities Act by the Hungarian state, which became a so-called majority state.

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The Possibilities and Limitations of Preventive Action: The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in Ukraine

International Negotiation ◽

10.1163/15718069-12341237 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 389-415 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Angela Kachuyevski

Keyword(s):

Minority Rights ◽

Violent Conflict ◽

Preventive Action ◽

Regional Politics ◽

Rights Protection ◽

National Minorities ◽

High Commissioner ◽

Solid Foundation ◽

Central Argument ◽

Durable Peace

Abstract This article examines the efforts of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to manage tensions in Ukraine between the substantial Russian minority and the Ukrainian government, and to prevent potentially violent conflict in Crimea from 1994 to 2001, as well as the subsequent efforts to promote peace and stability. It questions why the HCNM was remarkably successful in crisis management from 1994 to 2001, especially in averting secessionism in Crimea, but was hampered in his efforts to achieve a solid foundation for durable peace through the creation of a robust system of minority rights protection. The central argument is that regional politics often preclude the construction of a minority rights regime that could otherwise provide the foundation for durable peace.

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Immigrants, National Minorities, and Minority Rights

Equal Recognition ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691159379.003.0008 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Alan Patten

Keyword(s):

General Problem ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Language Rights ◽

Cultural Groups ◽

Cultural Rights ◽

National Minorities

This chapter examines a more general problem that arises with respect to minority cultural rights, including both language and self-government rights. The problem arises from the fact that most states are home to dozens, even hundreds, of cultural groups. Their members speak different languages, have different practices and traditions that they want to maintain, and, in some cases, would like for their group to enjoy some autonomy over its own affairs. To extend a full set of language rights or self-government rights to every group that claims them may cripple the liberal state's ability to pursue its legitimate objectives. In these cases, some principle is required for deciding which cultures ought to enjoy a full set of strong cultural rights and which should not. The chapter considers two different approaches to this problem. The first attaches categorical significance to the distinction between “national” and “immigrant” groups. The second answer proposes that one or more general principles be made the basis for determining the allocation of cultural rights.

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(Im)Possible Tolerance. A Paradox from within Multicultural Societies

Balkan Journal of Philosophy ◽

10.5840/bjp20191114 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 31-40

Author(s):

Francesco Trupia ◽

Keyword(s):

Minority Rights ◽

Point Of View ◽

Contemporary Society ◽

Immigrant Communities ◽

Top Down ◽

National Minorities

This paper deals with the principle of tolerance in our contemporary society in the attempt to highlight limits and paradoxes in the various aspects of minority issues. From this point of view, the first part of the paper discusses Kymlicka’s contribution to multiculturalism with regard to national minorities and immigrant communities, while the second part confronts his Theory of Minority Rights with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony and circle of humanity. Therefore, this paper aims at shifting the discourse over tolerance-related minority issues from a top-down approach toward an analysis of how tolerance is allowed to be performed. Thus, Gramsci’s philosophy of praxis is employed to disentangle moral and cultural set of values and norms within which both principle of tolerance and performativity of toleration are established and, in parallel, to reflect on reasons why others are not allowed to be performed.

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International Developments 2016: Economic, Social, and Cultural Life, Including Education and the Media, in the Context of European Minorities and from the Perspective of International Law

European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online ◽

10.1163/22116117_01501004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (01) ◽

pp. 51-89

Author(s):

Mariya Riekkinen

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Social Life ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Minority Languages ◽

Council Of Europe ◽

National Minorities ◽

Cultural Life ◽

Scope Of Application ◽

The Media ◽

The Eu

From the perspective of the rights of minorities in Europe, this section overviews international developments concerning economic and socio-cultural entitlements, including those related to education and the media. It is thematically structured around two clusters related to the minority rights: (a) cultural activities and facilities, including the media; and (b) economic and social life, including education, which are covered by the provisions of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ETS. No. 148). This review starts with an analysis of the 2016 developments at the UN level, and continues with an overview of advancements at the levels of the OSCE, the EU, and the Council of Europe. The adoption of the Thematic Commentary No. 4 “The Scope of Application of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities” by the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ACFC) is among the most important highlights.

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Linguistic Minority Rights in the Danish-German Border Region: Reciprocity and Public Administration Policies

International Journal on Minority and Group Rights ◽

10.1163/15718115-02304002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 485-504 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tove H. Malloy ◽

Sonja Wolf

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Minority Rights ◽

International Standards ◽

Border Region ◽

Minority Languages ◽

Policy Reforms ◽

Linguistic Minority ◽

National Minorities ◽

The Government ◽

Regional Or Minority Languages

Language equality is not public policy in Denmark or Germany, and neither country has adopted an official state language constitutionally. Both countries protect minority languages through regional and local statutes on culture and education and have signed relevant international standards on linguistic rights for minorities and protection of regional or minority languages. Neither system is very transparent, nor comprehensive. This has created consternation and dissatisfaction among the national minorities residing in the Danish-German border region resulting in recent tensions in the municipalities in Southern Denmark, whereas the government of Schleswig-Holstein decided in 2015 to address the issue with policy reforms for public administration. This article focuses on linguistic minority rights in the Danish-German border region with specific attention to minority languages in public administration and specifically to the on-going reforms in Schleswig-Holstein.

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Democratic order and ethnic minority rights: the weaknesses of the Finnish and Turkish democracies

The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies ◽

10.53604/rjbns.v8i2_6 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 93-102

Author(s):

Adél Furu

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Ethnic Minority ◽

Minority Rights ◽

Comparative Approach ◽

Conflict Prevention ◽

Ethnic Conflicts ◽

National Minorities ◽

Democratic Experience ◽

Consolidated Democracy

This paper raises important questions about the nature of governance in Finland with a view to the difficulties of the Sámi minority, and in the same time in this study we present our comparative approach to investigate how Finland and Turkey are able to solve internal ethnic conflicts related to their national minorities. The article provides a comparative analysis of the democratic order in a consolidated democracy (Finland) and in a weak democracy (Turkey). The democratic experience of these countries is of reasonable importance, as a considerable number of countries worldwide are at various stages during the democratic experiment. This study outlines the role of democratic order in conflict prevention in these two states.

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