The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Development of a 'Generic' Approach to the Protection of Minority Rights in Europe?

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-325
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Craig
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Will Kymlicka ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
State Responses

AbstractThis article considers some of the debates that have taken place in recent years about the Framework Convention's potential application to 'new minorities' or 'immigrant' groups. It explores the relevance of the work of Will Kymlicka to these debates as well as the stance adopted by the Framework Convention's Advisory Committee and State responses. The article argues that the protection of 'new' minorities under the Framework Convention should continue to be encouraged by the Advisory Committee and that this is an approach supported not only by Kymlicka's work but also on a more pragmatic level by State experiences to date.

A critical response to Will Kymlicka´s view of multiculturalism

Human Affairs ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Anwarullah Bhuiyan
Keyword(s):  
Minority Rights ◽  
Main Line ◽  
Liberal State ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Will Kymlicka ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Minority Cultures

AbstractThe objective of this article is to consider how multiculturalism, minority rights, and nationbuilding have been defended by Will Kymlicka. For this purpose, I will first attempt to spell out the answers to the following questions: is it possible to defend minority rights in a liberal state? What is the problem regarding this defence of national minorities? Does anybody benefit from minority rights within a nationbuilding process? In order to find out the answer to these questions, I will first introduce the main line of thought found in Will Kymlicka’s views on the defence of the rights of national minorities, the nationbuilding process, and multiculturalism. Later, I will reassess the views of Kymlicka in finding the ways to defend national minorities with the aim of providing support to the minority cultures.

Monitoring Minority Rights in Europe: The Implementation Machinery of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities - With Special Reference to the Role of the Advisory Committee

1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Advisory Committee ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Monitoring Procedure ◽  
European Standards ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FC), adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 1994, is the first multilateral treaty focused on the protection of minorities. Despite the importance of the FC within the process of codification and development of legally binding minority rights standards, the bearing of its obligations is 'softened' by many limitation clauses relating to both the general structure of the provisions as well as their specific content. To a degree, this may be seen as inherent in a convention providing a framework for case-specific solutions to be found at the domestic level. It is also true, however, that domestic measures directed at implementing the FC might reflect so wide a measure of discretion or self-understanding as to be heardly compatible with the purpose of elaborating a set of core European standards protecting minorities, 'essential to stability, democratic security and peace' (fifth preambular paragraph), and as such falling 'within the scope of co-operation' on human rights matters (Article 1). It follows that the key to making the FC a truly fruitful step lies no doubt in a satisfactory monitoring of its implementation. The Committee of Ministers is entrusted with the task of monitoring the implementation of the FC by the States parties. It is assisted by an Advisory Committee (AC), whose members have recognised expertise in the field of the protection of national minorities. On 17 September 1997, the Committee of Ministers adopted a Resolution concerning the rules on the monitoring arrangements under Articles 24 to 26 of the FC (Resolution (97)10). It determines the role of the AC and, therefore, its relation with the Committee of Ministers. The aim of this article is to examine the monitoring procedure of the FC, with special reference to the impact of the AC on the profile and effectiveness of the mechanism. It sketches out the main general issues and briefly discusses some proposals put forward on the role of the AC; then, it moves on to the analysis of the FC implementation mechanism as resulting from Resolution (97)10 of the Committee of Ministers, within the broader context of the international monitoring of minority rights compliance.

scholarly journals Religious Minority Identity in the Work of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: A Multifaceted Challenge in Evolution

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 858
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Topidi
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Three Stages

The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) of the Council of Europe counts more than 20 years of existence in the European human rights landscape. Normatively, the protection of minority religious identity is embedded in three main articles of the convention: first, under Articles 7 and 8, which outline a general right to freedom of religion, but also under Article 6, which considers religious minority rights for “new” minorities as related to tolerance. The analysis that follows here will unfold in three stages: the first stage will engage with the crucial issue of the scope of protection of the FCNM and how this relates to the protection of religious minority rights contained in the convention in today’s European societies. The second stage will focus on the main relevant articles of the FCNM that concern religious freedom. Starting with Articles 7 and 8 of the FCNM that focus on the religious rights of minorities stricto sensu, the discussion will then extend to Articles 5 and 6 of the FCNM due to their relevance to the exercise of religious rights by minorities in their cultural and diversity management dimensions. This extension is necessary to illustrate the current implications of religious identity for minority–majority relations. Methodologically, the study relies heavily on a detailed survey of the four completed cycles of monitoring, mapping the typology of issues pertaining to religious minorities as encountered by the Advisory Committee to the FCNM (ACFC) in the monitored states. The final stage of the analysis will provide some concluding thoughts on the general contribution of the ACFC towards standard setting on religious freedom in the European context.

New minorities, old instruments? Diversity governance from the perspective of minority rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192
Author(s):  
Roberta Medda-Windischer
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Scope Of Application

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. 

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

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.

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

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.

scholarly journals Az erdélyi románok kisebbségjogi jogállása 1918 előtt

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.

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

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-415 ◽  
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.

Kymlicka’s Alignment of Mill and Engels: Nationality, Civilization, and Coercive Assimilation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Tim Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
John Stuart Mill ◽  
Harm Principle ◽  
Will Kymlicka ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract John Stuart Mill claims that free institutions are next to impossible in a multinational state. According to Will Kymlicka, this leads him to embrace policies kindred to those of Friedrich Engels, aimed at promoting mononational states in Europe through coercive assimilation. Given Mill’s harm principle, such coercive assimilation would have to be justified either paternalistically, in terms of its civilizing effects upon the would-be assimilated, or non-paternalistically, with reference to the danger that their non-assimilation would pose to others. However, neither possible interpretation is plausible; Mill takes Europe’s civilized status to shield Europeans from paternalistic coercion, and he opposes coercive assimilation where it could conceivably be justified in the name of defense. Although this much suggests that Kymlicka misinterprets Mill by ignoring his definition of nationality, it leaves scope for Kymlicka to argue that Mill favors policies that promote mononationality through neglecting the languages and cultures of national minorities.

Immigrants, National Minorities, and Minority Rights

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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