Legal Code of Religious Minority Rights

Sources in International and European Law

Daniele Ferrari

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780367858445
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000424003
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Law
• Index: Law

This volume presents a systematic collection of the various international legal sources that define the rights of religious minorities.

In a time of increasing tensions around religious minorities, this volume presents a systematic collection of international and European documents on the protection and promotion of religious minorities' rights. The code includes documents from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union. An index system connects the various sources and norms, and emphasizes the strengths and the weaknesses in the legal frameworks of international and European institutions. While allowing for further research on the historical and conceptual development in the area, the code provides the reader with a new, easily accessible tool facilitating experts and actors who wish to improve the knowledge and protection of religious minorities.

This book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers interested in law and religion, international law, public law and human rights law, the code is also a powerful tool for minorities themselves, and for advocates of their rights.

I United Nations

Section 1

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

[Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 – entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49]

Article 4

1. 1In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin.
2. 2No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs I and II), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision.
3. 3Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation.

Article 18

1. 1Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.
2. 2No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.
3. 3Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
4. 4The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

Article 20

1. 1Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. 2Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

Article 24

1. 1Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State.
2. 2Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a name.
3. 3Every child has the right to acquire a nationality.

Article 26

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Article 27

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.

Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

[Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 – entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 9]

Article 1

A State Party to the Covenant that becomes a Party to the present Protocol recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation by that State Party of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party to the Covenant which is not a Party to the present Protocol.

Article 2

Subject to the provisions of article 1, individuals who claim that any of their rights enumerated in the Covenant have been violated and who have exhausted all available domestic remedies may submit a written communication to the Committee for consideration.

Article 3

The Committee shall consider inadmissible any communication under the present Protocol which is anonymous, or which it considers to be an abuse of the right of submission of such communications or to be incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant.

Article 4

1. 1Subject to the provisions of article 3, the Committee shall bring any communications submitted to it under the present Protocol to the attention of the State Party to the present Protocol alleged to be violating any provision of the Covenant.
2. 2Within six months, the receiving State shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements clarifying the matter and the remedy, if any, that may have been taken by that State.

Article 5

1. 1The Committee shall consider communications received under the present Protocol in the light of all written information made available to it by the individual and by the State Party concerned.
2. 2The Committee shall not consider any communication from an individual unless it has ascertained that:
   1. (a)The same matter is not being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement;
   2. (b)The individual has exhausted all available domestic remedies. This shall not be the rule where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged.
3. 3The Committee shall hold closed meetings when examining communications under the present Protocol.
4. 4The Committee shall forward its views to the State Party concerned and to the individual.

Article 6

The Committee shall include in its annual report under article 45 of the Covenant a summary of its activities under the present Protocol.

Article 7

Pending the achievement of the objectives of resolution 1514(XV) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1960 concerning the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the provisions of the present Protocol shall in no way limit the right of petition granted to these peoples by the Charter of the United Nations and other international conventions and instruments under the United Nations and its specialized agencies.

Article 8

1. 1The present Protocol is open for signature by any State which has signed the Covenant.
2. 2The present Protocol is subject to ratification by any State which has ratified or acceded to the Covenant. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. 3The present Protocol shall be open to accession by any State which has ratified or acceded to the Covenant.
4. 4Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
5. 5The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States which have signed the present Protocol or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 9

1. 1Subject to the entry into force of the Covenant, the present Protocol shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the tenth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
2. 2For each State ratifying the present Protocol or acceding to it after the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession, the present Protocol shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.

Article 10

The provisions of the present Protocol shall extend to all parts of federal States without any limitations or exceptions.

Article 11

1. 1Any State Party to the present Protocol may propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States Parties to the present Protocol with a request that they notify him whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and voting upon the proposal. In the event that at least one third of the States Parties favours such a conference, the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.
2. 2Amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the present Protocol in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.
3. 3When amendments come into force, they shall be binding on those States Parties which have accepted them, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present Protocol and any earlier amendment which they have accepted.

Article 12

1. 1Any State Party may denounce the present Protocol at any time by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation shall take effect three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.
2. 2Denunciation shall be without prejudice to the continued application of the provisions of the present Protocol to any communication submitted under article 2 before the effective date of denunciation.

Article 13

Irrespective of the notifications made under article 8, paragraph 5, of the present Protocol, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States referred to in article 48, paragraph I, of the Covenant of the following particulars:

1. (a)Signatures, ratifications and accessions under article 8;
2. (b)The date of the entry into force of the present Protocol under article 9 and the date of the entry into force of any amendments under article 11;
3. (c)Denunciations under article 12.

Article 14

1. 1The present Protocol, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.
2. 2The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the present Protocol to all States referred to in article 48 of the Covenant.

A Legal definition

A.1. Francesco Capotorti (Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities), Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (ST/HR(05)/H852/no.5), 1979.^*

Chapter I. The concept of a minority

a analysis of the concept of a minority

* From Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, by Francesco Capotorti, © (1979) United Nations. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.

20. Despite the many references to minorities to be found in international legal instruments of all kinds (multilateral conventions, bilateral treaties and resolutions of international organizations), there is no generally accepted definition of the term “minority”. The preparation of a definition capable of being universally accepted has always proved a task of such difficulty and complexity that neither the experts in this field nor the organs of the international agencies have been able to accomplish it to date. The reason for this is the number of different aspects to be considered. Should the concept of a minority be based on the numerical ratio of the “minority” group to the population as a whole or is this quantitative aspect secondary or even unimportant? Is it necessary to limit the concept by introducing the idea of a minimum size? Should only objective criteria be taken into account or should it be assumed that “subjective” factors also have a part to play? Does the origin of the minorities matter for the purposes of a de...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Introduction
• Law reading guides
• I United Nations
• 2 Council of Europe
• 3 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• 4 European Union
• Chronological index of institutional documents and judgements
• Chronological index of legal sources
• Index of rights and principles
• Bibliography
• Name index
• Subject index