scholarly journals RELIGION AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-159
Author(s):  
Vladimir Đurić
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political System ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Specific Method ◽  
Cultural Autonomy ◽  
Minority Identity ◽  
Minority Participation ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Republic

This article analyzes the normative regulation of the relation between religion and national minorities in the legal and political system of Serbia. The analysis of religion and national minorities in the legal and political system of Serbia includes four, mutually linked, groups of issues. The first includes issues of normative regulation of the very notion of national minorities and religion, as well as religion as an element of national minority identity. This article’s second field of interest is made up of issues of normative regulation of religion in the political participation of national minorities. The third group of issues are those pertaining to religion and the cultural autonomy of national minorities, as a specific method of national minority participation in the public affairs of the Republic of Serbia. The issue of the range of application of minority rights in the regulation of the establishment and functioning of churches and religious communities is the fourth group of issues observed. It will be noticed that religion is considered, among other characteristics, in the legal and political system of Serbia, the very essence of what makes a social group a national minority and can be the sole element of differentiation and determination of a national minority. The influence and importance of religion as an element of national minority identity is more pronounced and direct in the sphere of national minority cultural autonomy, then in view of their political participation.

scholarly journals Status prawny mniejszości narodowych w Republice Słowackiej

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Puzyniak
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Położenie mniejszości narodowych na terenie Republiki Słowackiej regulują liczne akty prawne. Wśród nich znajdują się dokumenty przyjmowane na gruncie krajowym oraz rozwiązania o charakterze międzynarodowym. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie treści najważniejszych ustaw oraz dokumentów, które wpływają na położenie mniejszości narodowych na Słowacji, a także przybliżenie reakcji organizacji międzynarodowych na wprowadzane przez Bratysławę regulacje prawne. The legal status of national minorities in the Slovak Republic The location of national minorities in the territory of the Slovak Republic is regulated by numerous national acts, the most important of which are the constitution, the law on the use of national minority languages and the law on the state language. References to national minorities can be found in many other acts, such as the Act on counteracting discrimination, the Act on Upbringing and Education and the Act on Radio and Television. The issue of minorities is also raised in bilateral agreements, an example of which is the agreement on good neighbourliness and friendly cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Hungary. The legal situation of minorities in Slovakia is also influenced by international organizations to which Bratislava belongs. In this case, the Council of Europe’s most significant influence, the European Union, the Central European Initiative and the United Nations. Over the years, the Slovak authorities have also created institutions responsible for activities for national minorities, and among them, an important function is performed by the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for National Minorities. This article aims to analyse the legal acts and institutions regulating the legal status of national minorities in Slovakia. The publication is also intended to show that the issue of minorities is covered in many legal solutions, and the Slovak authorities have developed a system of protection and support for this community over the years. The author used the institutional and legal method.

optimates, populares

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Yakobson
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
The People ◽  
Family Connections ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Popular Party ◽  
Political Divide

Optimates and populares are political terms from late-Republican sources referring to a political divide between supporters of the senatorial authority and champions of popular liberty and popular demands. The precise meaning of these terms and the nature of the divide to which they refer have long been disputed among scholars. Though the sources sometimes speak of partes in this context, it is obvious that the Republic had no “senatorial party” or “popular party” in anything like the modern sense of the term. Based on this, and on the tendency to describe Republican politics as wholly dominated by personal and family connections and rivalries within the ruling class, the significance of the political divide in question has often been dismissed or minimized. However, the sources repeatedly indicate that this divide could, at least on occasion, play an important role in public affairs—alongside other factors including personal ties, family alliances, and oligarchic cliques. One of the consequences of the fact that the labels optimates and populares did not signify a formalized affiliation was that their usage was highly flexible, often inconsistent, and certainly open to manipulation. Pro-senatorial politicians might claim, in public, to be “true friends of the people (populares),” unlike their allegedly demagogic anti-senatorial opponents. But terms that are meaningless or insignificant to the wider public are of little use to political manipulators—who have in any case no guarantee, in a competitive political system, that their manipulation, rather than a rival one, will always carry the day. As long as Republican politics lasted, the optimate/popular divide appears to have been a significant feature. Its relative importance, and specific import, must have varied greatly from case to case, and should in every case be assessed individually.

Fluid Borders of National-Cultural Autonomy: The Legal Status of National Minority Councils in Serbia

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-288
Author(s):  
Katinka Beretka
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Cultural Autonomy ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Legal Character ◽  
Real Self

AbstractThis article gives an overview of the current position of minority self-governance within the Serbian legal order and its multilevel governance structure, with a particular focus on issues deriving from the missing legal determination of national minority councils. Although Serbia’s 2009 Law on National Minority Councils was welcomed by the international community, both national minority councils and public agencies have from the very beginning of its operation expressed serious concerns relating inter alia to the unspecified legal status of the councils. This has resulted in frequent misunderstandings in practice and, rather than being real self-governments of national minorities under public law, the councils are usually treated as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or organizations under the influence of political parties. Instead of presenting (international) political and social scientific approaches to the legal character of non-territorial autonomy in general, the article focuses on concrete legislative solutions and Constitutional Court practice regarding issues relevant to the de jure status of national minority councils in Serbia, such as election rules, competences, and funding.

National Minorities and Organizing Cross-border Cultural Cooperation: Evidence from the Polish-Lithuanian Borderland

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-73
Author(s):  
Joanna Kurowska-Pysz ◽  
Andrius Puksas
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Minority Participation ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Cross Border Cooperation

The research problem is minority participation in local development, illustrated by the case of the Lithuanian minority’s activities in Poland. The aim of the paper is to analyse actions conducted by the Lithuanian minority in Poland (Puosk) and to point out some factors supporting cross-border cultural cooperation engaging the national minority, based on best practices from the Lithuanian-Polish border-land. It is a good illustration of a process leading to the improvement of relations between neighbouring countries, thanks to cross-border cooperation based on the minority’s activities. The authors analyse a case study regarding Polish commune development strongly influenced by Lithuanian culture and the Lithuanian minority’s activities. It is analysed in the paper together with qualitative research (interviews) that allowed the research problem to be solved.

Electoral Accountability and Substantive Representation of National Minorities

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Lončar
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Minority Ethnic

This article examines under what conditions descriptive representatives of national minorities can also act as substantive representatives. It provides an empirical analysis of the behaviour of the representatives with ethnic minority backgrounds in the eighth National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. Specifically, the article builds upon a content analysis of all interventions in the plenary parliamentary debates of the thirty-one minority MPs in the period between June 2008 and March 2012. The analysis suggests that having a minority ethnic background or political party registered as a political party of national minority are not sufficient conditions for substantive minority representation. The findings show that minority representatives elected on minority electoral lists engage more in substantive representation of minorities than descriptive representatives elected to parliament either as members of mainstream parties or through pre-electoral arrangements of minority parties with mainstream political parties.

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.

The Protection of Lithuania’s Polish Minority: Bone of Contention in Bilateral Polish-Lithuanian Relations

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kuzborska
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Minority Language Rights ◽  
Current Stage

This article provides an overview of the recent political and legal events surrounding the protection of Lithuania’s Polish national minority in the context of Lithuanian–Polish bilateral relations, focusing particularly on what has occurred since the so-called golden age of relations between the two countries. This article aims to present up-to-date information on the current stage of dialogue on the issue of national minorities in Lithuania and on the actual protection of the Polish minority in this country. After the expiration of the Law on national minorities in Lithuania in 2010, the primary bones of contention between the two countries have been the use of the language of minorities in communication with local authorities and in bilingual topographical signs, the use of names and surnames in a minority language, rights related to the education of national minorities, and rights related to political participation of national minorities.

Ten Years of the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life – Reflections on Progress and Unfinished Business

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-522
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Drzewicki
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
Minority Participation ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Introductory Note ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Individual

This article is an introductory note to this special issue of the International journal on Minority and Group Rights on the tenth anniversary seminar of the Lund Recommendations. Its intention has not been to give an overview of all the individual contributions published in this issue of the journal. Instead the editor has intended to attract attention to his comments on a few specific questions and tendencies of particularly meaningful significance. Among them, the editor commented on the process and results of the strengthening of legal and political frameworks for national minority participation and the notable development of advisory and consultative bodies. Divergent views have been expressed on the degree of judicialisation of national minority participation. The article also discussed the benefits of the commendable relationship reached between the Lund Recommendations and Advisory Committee's Commentary No. 2 as well as against revision of Lund Recommendations but in favour of filling their gaps by a separate instrument within a set of recommendations to be devoted to integration in multi-ethnic societies.

Legal regulation of the status of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-82
Author(s):  
Ihor Onyshchuk
Keyword(s):  
Practical Importance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
National Minority ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to develop issues of legal regulation of the status of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland and to show the impact of foreign policy orientations of the Republic of Poland on the implementation of international law on national minorities. Methodology. Among the philosophical, general scientific and special scientific methods, the following were used: dialectical methods – comparative method – to clarify the general and specific patterns of functioning and development of legal regulation of the status of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland. The axiological method was used to find the value of the legal regulation of the status of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland and to reveal its theoretical and applied significance; activity method – for the formation of recommendations to improve the mechanism of protection of the rights of Ukrainian workers and meet the cultural, educational and spiritual and religious needs of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland. Originality. The scientific novelty lies in the theoretical understanding and delineation of ways to improve the well-being of the Ukrainian community in Poland and gain better prospects, which is extremely important given the territorial dispersion of Ukrainians, and will be an essential element in filling the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Poland. Results. The study found that in view of the revival of Ukraine's interaction with the Ukrainian community in Poland and in order to preserve the ethno-national identity of Polish Ukrainians, it seems appropriate for public authorities in Ukraine to address issues such as the use of practical influence of the Council of Europe. The rights of national minorities and the rule of law in the Member States, etc. Practical importance. The results of the study can be used in law-making activities in order to legally regulate the protection of the rights of the Ukrainian national minority in the Republic of Poland.

scholarly journals ПРАКСА УСТАВНОГ СУДА РЕПУБЛИКЕ ХРВАТСКЕ У ОБЛАСТИ ПРАВА НАЦИОНАЛНИХ МАЊИНА, СА ПОСЕБНИМ ОСВРТОМ НА ЈЕЗИЧКА ПРАВА СРПСКЕ ЗАЈЕДНИЦЕ У ХРВАТСКОЈ

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-97
Author(s):  
Катинка Беретка
Keyword(s):  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Autonomy ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Sensitive Topics ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Republic

In the period from 2000 to the present day, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia has often faced the challenge of deciding on politically sensitive topics, especially when it comes to the need to protect the rights of both traditional and so-called “new” minority communities (which emerged from the constituent nations of the former Yugoslavia by the formation of new independent nation-states). The cases that occur in court practice are diverse, but mainly refer to cultural autonomy, representation of persons belonging to national minorities in local or regional representative bodies and equal representation in the public sector, as well as (official) use of language and script. The submitters of constitutional complaints, and the initiators of the procedures for assessing the constitutionality and legality of general legal acts, were guided by various motives; and the question is whether these motives influenced the work of the constitutional court, or in other words, whether the court remained faithful to its original role of protecting the basic, timeless values of the constitutional order of Croatia or was guided by current party policy programs. In addition to the general presentation of the legal regulation of minority rights, and the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court in Croatia, the paper analyzes cases related to the language rights of “new” minority communities, focusing on the arguments of both “parties” in the procedure and the constitutional court, as well. The goal of this paper is to present the practice of the Constitutional Court of Croatia in the field of language rights of national minorities through specific constitutional court cases, with special reference to the consistency of the court’s argumentation.

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