11. European Minority Rights Law: Unilateral Legislation in Favour of Kin-Minorities
- Author:
- Tove H. Malloy
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- The international approach to unilateral legislation with extraterritorial reach is quite clear. General principles of customary international law entrust the state where national minorities reside with the task of securing the rights of all persons within its jurisdiction. Preferential treatment of national minorities by their kin-state is considered the exception unless it is established through bilateral treaties, or as a minimum agreed among the parties involved. The League of Nations system was the first European multilateral attempt to provide protection for minorities outside the mother state through bilateral treaties. After the collapse of the League of Nations system and the transfer of international protection of minorities to the United Nations system, bilateralism was not specifically promoted but nonetheless carried over as the main approach to kin-minority protection. This approach came under pressure after 1989 and the collapse of Communism when a number of countries adopted unilateral laws on kin-state minorities and compatriots living abroad. The bilateral approach received renewed attention, therefore, as part of the multilateral approach promoted by the international community after 1989.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Governance, Sanctions, and Minorities
- Political Geography:
- Europe and United Nations