scholarly journals The Protection of National Minorities within the Council of Europe: An Analytical Review

2013 ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Jabbar Aslan ◽  
Khabbat Aslani
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Analytical Review

According to the preamble of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which has entered into force on 1 February 1998, minority rights are an integral part of fundamental human rights. This instrument is the ever legally binding treaty in the regional and also universal level that taken on great importance in addressing the challenges of minority protection in evolving and increasingly diverse societies. So, this paper has an analytical approach to the protection of minorities within the Council of Europe and for this, especially, focuses on the Framework Convention: namely its content, its rights-holders, and also- the most important point of view - the problems, challenges and tasks that this legally instrument faces with it in practice. One must take into account that the Framework Convention has passed 13 years of its birth and the authors aim to analyse its achievements and in the same time, its challenges as well. Thus, we reiterate once more that our method is analytical to examine the topic.

scholarly journals On Aims, Means, and Unintended Consequences: The Case of Molla Sali

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 859
Author(s):  
Effie Fokas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Muslim Minority

This contribution speaks to this Special Issue’s guiding question of how the approach to freedom of religion and minority protection can be combined to foster the protection of religious communities and their members by examining a particular European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case that provokes a contrasting question: ‘What happens when provisions for religious minority protection lead to the violation rather than protection of members’ rights?’ That case is Molla Sali v. Greece (2018), in which the ECtHR addressed the claim of a member of a Muslim minority community whose membership in that community subjected her—involuntarily—to the authority of sharia law over inheritance matters. The case serves as a foundation from which to explore the ECtHR’s engagements with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, an exploration which helps bring to the fore the problems around the concept of ‘voluntary’ opting into identification with a minority identity when the latter entails some form of disadvantage. Women, in particular, due to family and peer pressures, are vulnerable to such disadvantage in contexts such as that from which the case of Molla Sali arises. Thus, the case invites discussion of various ways in which individual and group rights may come into conflict and considers minority rights specifically in relation to other human rights.

Peace, Human Rights, and Minorities: Multilateral Responses and the CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Rob Zaagman ◽  
Konrad Huber
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
International Response ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
High Commissioner

AbstractThis article attempts to understand concurrent efforts by inter-governmental agencies in the areas of minority protection and ethnic conflict prevention. The analysis specifially aims (1) to assist in differentiating between the numerous inter-governmental organs, bodies, and mechanisms, including the CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, with a role in addressing minority issues, and (2) to begin the process of identifying interrelationships, overlaps, and gaps in existing capacities. In addition to the High Commissioner, the minority-related activities of the UN, the Council of Europe, and the Council of Baltic Sea States are all reviewed. The essential view is that 'the effectiveness of international response to minority questions lies not in the efficacy of single institutions but in synergetic cooperaton among them'.

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. 

scholarly journals The state liability for damages caused by its judicial authorities

2003 ◽  
Vol 75 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 409-422
Author(s):  
Nikola Mihailović
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
State Liability ◽  
Domestic Law

A breach of any right or freedom under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, leads to but is not limited to liability of the State for damages. That liability is much stricter than the State liability for damage provided according to the domestic law provisions currently in force. The current provisions on State liability for the work of its judiciary do not include the damage caused by improper interpretation and application of the relevant legal provisions. In contrast, the liability of the Council of Europe Member States for the damage caused by their judicial and other authorities, through the breach of the human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Convention includes their liability for improper interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the Convention. That liability is so strict that it in fact comes equal to no-fault liability, from the point of view of its legal consequences. This is so, although it is regulated only as a presumed liability for which there are no grounds of limitation. As a result, two systems of liability for damage caused by judicial authorities will exist in our State Union and in its member states, after the ratification of the aforementioned Convention: liability pursuant to the domestic legal provisions and liability pursuant to the Convention. For that reason, a reform of the provisions on liability is necessary, which will lead to tightening of liability for damage caused by judiciary pursuant to the domestic rules. How to achieve this is a separate issue, which will not be discussed on this occasion.

scholarly journals Democracy and the Preservation of Minority Identity: Fragmentation within the European Human Rights Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-228
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Minority Identity ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Human ◽  
Different Origins ◽  
Historical Origins ◽  
Institutional Fragmentation

The international human rights (ihr) and international minority rights (imr) regimes have very different origins. However, the two regimes converged in the 20th century, and imr are now understood to be a sub-regime of ihr. This article argues that the different historical origins of the two regimes impact how actors within each regime interpret their mission, and have resulted in institutional fragmentation within the Council of Europe. The mission of the European Court of Human Rights is the promotion and protection of democracy, whereas the Advisory Committee to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minority’s mission is the preservation of minority identity. In practice, this has led to conflicting interpretations of multi-sourced equivalent norms. It is suggested that inter-institutional dialogue provides an avenue through which these conflicting interpretations can be mediated.

21. Indigenous peoples’ and minority rights

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhona K. M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
International Human

This chapter examines the scope and application of indigenous peoples’ rights and minority rights in international human rights law. It discusses the recognition of the need for minority protection in the drafting of the International Bill of Human Rights; analyses the provisions of Art 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and describes tests employed to determine minority status. The chapter also considers developments in the protection of minority rights in Europe. The rights of indigenous peoples are also examined.

Les minorités dans la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme, une absence délibérée

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 557-590
Author(s):  
Fernando Arlettaz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
The United Nations

Summary The League of Nations established, in the interwar period, a legal regime for the protection of minorities which considered them as intermeditate groups between the State and the individuals. On the contrary, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations, assumed a radically individualistic point of view and did not include any mention to minority rights. The travaux préparatoires of the Universal Declaration suggest that the question of minorities caused strong tension among States and that, for this reason, they avoided its inclusion in the 1948 document.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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