scholarly journals Formation and development of international standards in the field of linguistic rights of indigenous peoples: historical and legal aspects

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-202
Author(s):  
Vasily N. Nemechkin
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Decade

Introduction. The main objective of this article is to study the historical and legal aspects of the formation and development of international standards in the field of linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. This topic is particularly relevant in connection with the proclamation of the period 2022–2032 International Decade of Indigenous Languages by UN General Assembly. Materials and Methods. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach that incorporates the historical, formal-legal, system-structural methods of scientific knowledge. The material was provided by the main international legal documents in the field of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, research by Russian and international authors on the legal status of indigenous peoples, and the protection of their linguistic rights in particular. Results and Discussion. Based on the analysis of international legal acts, the following can be distinguished among the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples: the right to preserve and use native languages in private and publicly; the right to education in the mother tongue; the right to create and have access to the media in their native languages; the right to recognize indigenous languages in constitutions and national laws; the right to a life free of linguistic discrimination and other rights. The article also discusses the main UN mechanisms and tools in the field of ensuring and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The protection of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples is currently carried out by numerous specialized agencies such as UNESCO, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and etc. An important mechanism for promoting the theme of languages of indigenous peoples, the unification of partners and resources for joint action around the world was the proclamation by the UN General Assembly of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (2019) and the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032). Conclusion. At the level of the international community, it formed a serious understanding of the need to preserve and develop languages, the realization of the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, which will be facilitated by the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

scholarly journals From High Hopes to Disillusionment: Indigenous Peoples' Struggle to (re)Gain Their Right to Self-determination

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Koivurova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Draft Convention ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The Right

AbstractThis article will examine three international processes wherein the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples has been taken up: the process whereby the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration), the intention to negotiate a Nordic Saami Convention (Draft Convention) and the practice of the Human Rights Committee (HRC) in monitoring the observance of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Covenant). All of these processes have enunciated indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, but any claim to such a right has met with resistance from the states, with the reasons for such resistance examined here. The aim is to study why it is so difficult to insert indigenous peoples into international law as category and, in particular, to have states accept their right to self-determination. In the conclusions, it is useful to ask whether the problems experienced in promoting the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples are mere setbacks or whether they contain elements that might inform the international movement of indigenous peoples more generally.

scholarly journals El sistema español de jerarquía lingüística. Desarrollo autonómico del artículo 3 de la Constitución: lengua del Estado, lenguas cooficiales, otras lenguas españolas y modalidades lingüísticas. Teoría y praxis. // The Spanish system of language hierarchy. Autonomic development of article 3 of the Constitution: State language, co-official languages, other Spanish languages and language modalities. Theory and praxis.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (100) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Vicenta Tasa Fuster
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Autonomous Communities ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Spanish Constitution ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Special Respect ◽  
The Right ◽  
Official Recognition

Resumen:Este trabajo pretende dar una visión general del reconocimiento de la diversidad lingüística española que se deriva de la Constitución. Nos referimos exclusivamente a las lenguas autóctonas históricamente habladas en España; teniendo en cuenta, además, que una misma lengua puede recibir diversas denominaciones populares y oficiales.Partiendo de estas premisas, el trabajo estudia el reconocimiento que hace la Constitución Española de la diversidad lingüística en España en su artículo 3. Se subraya en el estudio que, en dicho artículo de la Constitución se establece que el castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado y que todos los españoles tienen el deber de conocerla y el derecho a usarla (art. 3.1), que las otras lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas comunidades autónomas, en función de la regulación que hagan sus estatutos (art. 3.2) y que España considera que la riqueza de las diferentes modalidades lingüísticas esun patrimonio cultural que deberá tener un respeto y una protección especiales (art. 3.3).El contenido de la Constitución, la jurisprudencia constitucional de las últimas cuatro décadas y los estatutos de autonomía y legislación lingüística autonómica, han asentado un reconocimiento de la diversidad lingüística española y de los derechos lingüísticos concretos de los hablantes de las distintas lenguas españolas fundamentado en el principio de jerarquía lingüística y no en los de seguridad lingüística e igualdad de derechos lingüísticos. El principio de jerarquía lingüística presupone considerar que existen unas lenguas que deben tener un reconocimiento legal y oficial superior a otras. Y, lo que es lo mismo, que los derechos lingüísticos de sus hablantes no tienen el mismo grado de reconocimiento. Llegándose a dar el caso que, en España, una misma lengua pueda llegar a tener diferentes niveles de reconocimiento legal-oficial y un número aún mayor de políticas lingüísticas que traten de convertir en una realidad substantiva todos o una parte de los derechos lingüísticos reconocidos formalmente a los hablantes de una lengua diferente del castellano en una comunidad autónoma.Así las cosas, se constata que legalmente una lengua (castellano) tiene una situación de preeminencia legal-oficial, seis lenguas españolas (catalán, gallego, vasco, occitano, aragonés y asturleonés) tienen algún tipo de reconocimiento oficial en parte del territorio en el que son habladas de manera autóctona, una lengua tiene reconocimiento político (tamazight), otra tiene un reconocimiento administrativo menor en Cataluña (caló), y tres lenguas autóctonas no tienen el más mínimo reconocimiento legal, político o administrativo (árabe, haquetia yportugués). El trabajo estudia detalladamente y de manera global la estructuración de la jerarquía lingüística en la legislación española derivadade la Constitución y concluye con una descripción de los seis niveles de jerarquía lingüística y de derechos lingüísticos que existen en España. Se defiende, finalmente, un cambio sistema lingüístico legalconstitucional que respete los principios de seguridad lingüística y el principio de igualdad de derechos lingüísticos de todos los ciudadanos españoles. Summary:1. Introduction. The Constitution and the Spanish languages. 2.Language in the statutes of monolingual communities. 3. Linguisticdiversity in multilingual communities with a single official language.4. Communities with co-officiality. 5. Final considerations: a hierarchicalrecognition. 6. Bibliography cited. Abstract:This paper is an overview of the recognition of the Spanish linguistic diversity derived from the Constitution. We refer exclusively to the native languages historically spoken in Spain; about that is important to know that the same language can receive diverse popular and official denominations.With these premises, the work studies the recognition in the article 3 of the Spanish Constitution of the linguistic diversity in Spain. It is emphasized in the study that this article establishes that the Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State and that all Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it (article 3.1), that the other Spanish languages would be official in the respective autonomous communities, depending on the regulation made by their statutes of autonomy (article 3.2 ), and that Spain considers the richness of the different linguistic modalities a cultural heritage that must have special respect and protection (article 3.3).The content of the Constitution, the constitutional jurisprudence of the last four decades and the statutes of autonomy and autonomous linguistic legislation, have established a recognition of the Spanish linguistic diversity and of the specific linguistic rights of the speakers of the different Spanish languages based on the principle of linguistic hierarchy and not in those of linguistic security and equality of linguistic rights. The principle of linguistic hierarchy considers that there are some languages that have to have a legal and official recognitionsuperior to others. And, what is the same, that the linguistic rights of its speakers do not have the same degree of recognition. In Spain, the same language may have different levels of legal-official recognition and a lot of linguistic policies in the autonomous communities that try to be reality all or part of the linguistic rights formally recognized to speakers of a language other than Castilian. So it is verified that legally a language (Castilian) has a situation oflegal-official preeminence, six Spanish languages (Catalan, Galician, Basque, Occitan, Aragonese and Asturian) have some type of official recognition in part of the territory where are spoken, one language has political recognition (Tamazight), another has a lower administrative recognition in Catalonia (Caló), and three indigenous languages do not have the least legal, political or administrative recognition (Arabic, Hachetia and Portuguese).The paper studies in detail the structure of the linguistic hierarchy in Spanish legislation derived from the Constitution and concludes with a description of the six levels of linguistic hierarchy and of linguistic rights that exist in Spain. Finally, it defends a legal-constitutional linguistic system that respects the principles of linguistic security and of equality of linguistic rights of all Spanish citizens.

Protection of Indigenous Peoples on the African Continent: Concepts, Position Seeking, and the Interaction of Legal Systems

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem van Genugten
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The Right ◽  
Ownership Of Land

African indigenous peoples confront gross human rights violations, both on the macrolevel of the peoples as a whole, and on the microlevel of the individuals belonging to them. These violations relate to such issues as the right to self-determination; the ownership of land and natural resources, as part of their right to life; the existence of distinct political and economic institutions; discrimination; and lack of access to justice. Taking these and other violations as a starting point, this article focuses on whether the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration),1 as adopted in 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, might be instrumental in helping to solve these problems.

scholarly journals Legal Aspects of the Right to Nationality Pursuant to Myanmar Citizenship Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Yin Htun
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

It is universally accepted that everyone has the right to citizenship. Myanmar’s framework on the right to nationality constitutes a unique, exclusive, ethnic citizenship system based on jus sanguinis or the law of blood. Myanmar’s Citizenship Law was enacted in 1982 by repealing the Union Citizenship Act of 1948. As citizenship parameters were changed by the Law, many people in the Kachin, Karen, and Rakhine states lost their nationality rights and consequently suffered human rights abuses. In the Rakhine state, serious communal violence occurred in 2012, 2016, and 2017, and the government declared a state of emergency. This research paper focuses on how Myanmar can adhere to international standards for nationality rights. It provides a historical overview and legal analysis of citizenship laws in Myanmar using a human rights lens and offers suggestions for legal reforms that can help address the problem of statelessness in Myanmar. Specifically, it recommends the use of the jus soli, or the law of the soil, approach to citizenship.

From the Indian Ocean to the Arctic: What the Chagos Archipelago Advisory Opinion Tells Us about Greenland

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 308-327
Author(s):  
Rachael Lorna Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
The Status ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Right ◽  
Consultative Body ◽  
Chagos Archipelago

On February 25, 2019, the International Court of Justice issued its advisory opinion on Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. The judges held by a majority of 13:1 that the process of decolonisation of Mauritius is incomplete, owing to the separation of the Chagos Archipelago shortly before Mauritian independence, that the United Kingdom should end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible, and that all Member States of the United Nations should cooperate to complete the decolonisation of Mauritius. The (partial) decolonisation of Mauritius in 1968 and the treatment of the Chagos islanders (Chagossians) have important parallels with the purported decolonisation of Greenland in 1952–54. In both cases, the consultative body of the colonised people was neither fully independent nor representative of all the people concerned. No real choice was given to either body; rather the colonial power offered only the continuation of the status quo or professed self-determination on terms defined by the colonial power itself. Furthermore, the process of decolonisation was inherently linked to the forcible transfer of people in order to make way for a United States military facility. Nevertheless, there are some relevant differences. First of all, Greenland was purportedly decolonised in 1953, some seven years before the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (UNGA Res. 1514(XV) 1960). Second, the UN General Assembly accepted the Danish government’s representations regarding the full decolonisation of Greenland (UNGA Res. 849 (1954), in contrast to their position regarding Mauritius that decolonisation was and remains incomplete, owing to the separation of the Chagos Archipelago (UNGA Res(XX) 1965). Third, though the Chagossians have been recognised as indigenous at the UN, the British government has continually denied this status and (mis)characterises them as a transient people, while Denmark has accepted the status of the Greenlanders as both an indigenous people and a colonial people, entitled to self-determination. This article examines the implications for the judgment for the Greenland case as well as broader questions of self-determination of peoples. It concludes that the colonial boundaries continue to govern in decolonisation cases, with the consequence that the Greenlanders are likely to be held to be a single people; that the erga omnes character of the right to self-determination means that all States must cooperate to facilitate Greenlanders’ choices for their future; and that there remain significant procedural hurdles that prevent colonial and indigenous peoples having their voices heard, even in the matters that concern them most of all.

Language Rights for Indigenous Peoples: The Case of the Russian Federation

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 523-546
Author(s):  
Elena Knyazeva
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
The World ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Academic Discussion ◽  
Domestic Law

Abstract The Russian Federation is one of the most multinational and heterogeneous countries in the world. There are forty seven officially recognised indigenous peoples, each with their own language. Majority of them are listed as endangered by UNESCO. 1 The situation can be defined as critical and requiring expeditious measures to revive and develop indigenous languages. This paper seeks to assess contemporary legislative and political situations relating to linguistic rights of indigenous peoples in Russia. There has been very little research on the adequacy of protection afforded to the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples in Russia under domestic law. Therefore, it is hoped that this paper will serve as a basis for a much needed academic discussion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document