International law, Sixth edition
party, and prepares an opinion on the measures taken by that party
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International Law MALCOLM N. SHAW
party, and prepares an opinion on the measures taken by that party. 146 The Committee may request additional information from a state party or other sources, including individuals and NGOs, but cannot deal with individual complaints. It may hold meetings with governments, and has to do so if the government concerned so requests, and may hold meetings with others than the governments concerned, during the course of coun- try visits. Having received the opinion of the Advisory Committee, the Committee of Ministers will take the final decisions (called conclusions) concerning the adequacy of the measures taken by the state party. Where appropriate, it may also adopt recommendations in respect of the state party concerned. The conclusions and recommendations of the Commit- tee of Ministers shall be made public upon their adoption, together with 140 Upon request and where such a request corresponds to a real need, article 10(2). Similarly with regard to the display of traditional local names, street names and other topographical indications intended for the public in the minority language, article 11(3), and with regard to adequate opportunities for being taught the minority language or for receiving instruction in that language, article 14(2). 141 Article 24. Note that parties which are not members of the Council of Europe shall participate in the implementation mechanism according to modalities to be determined. Accordingly, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became a party to the Convention on 11 May 2001 and its first report became due on 1 September 2002. 142 Article 26. 143 Article 25. The first reports became due on 1 February 1999. 144 Resolution (97) 10 and see H(1998)005 rev.11. 145 Guidelines for such reports have been issued by the Committee: see e.g. ACFC/INF(2003)001 and ACFC/INF(1998)001. 146 See, for a list of opinions delivered as of January 2003, ACFC(2002)Opinions bil. See also the Collection of Resolutions and Recommendations Referred to by the Advisory Committee in its Opinions, 2007 and the Activities of the Council of Europe in the Field of the Protection of National Minorities, DH-MIN (2005) 003. 368 i n t e r nat i o na l l aw any comments the state party may have submitted in respect of the opin- ion delivered by the Advisory Committee. The opinion of the Advisory Committee is as a rule made public together with the conclusions of the Committee of Ministers. A first cycle of monitoring began in 1998 with thirty-four opinions adopted by the Advisory Committee and twenty- nine resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers. A second cycle of monitoring began in February 2004. While the range of rights accorded to members of minorities is clearly greater than that envisaged in UN instruments, 147 its ambit is narrower in being confined to ‘national minorities’. The Framework Convention itself provides no definition of that term since no consensus existed as to its meaning, 148 although Recommendation 1201 (1993) adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly and reaffirmed in Recommendation 1255 (1995) suggests that it refers to persons who reside on the territory of the state concerned and are citizens of it; maintain longstanding, firm and lasting ties with that state; display distinctive ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics; are sufficiently representative, although smaller in numbers than the rest of the population of that state or of a region of that state; and are motivated by a concern to preserve together that which constitutes their common identity, including their culture, their traditions, their religion or their language. The narrowing of regard to persons belonging to national minorities who are citizens of the state concerned is perhaps a matter of concern. 149 The issue of the protection of minority rights is the subject of continuing discussion as to both their nature and scope. 150 The Council of Europe has adopted measures with regard to other areas of human rights activities of some relevance to the above issues. 151 147 See above, p. 293. 148 See the Explanatory Report to the Convention, which states that, ‘It was decided to adopt a pragmatic approach, based on the recognition that at this stage, it is impossible to arrive at a definition capable of mustering general support of all Council of Europe member States’, H(1995)010, para. 12. The European Court of Human Rights has also referred to the problem of defining national minorities: see Gorzelik v. Poland, Judgment of 20 December 2001, para. 62. 149 See e.g. R. Higgins, ‘Minority Rights Discrepancies and Divergencies Between the In- ternational Covenant and the Council of Europe System’ in Liber Amicorum for Henry Download 7.77 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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