Are Minority Rights Still Human Rights?

Marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, this book investigates to what extent minority rights can, or should, be treated as part of the human rights regime.

Internationally renowned experts, both scholars and practitioners, critically assess the current state of protection from different disciplinary perspectives. Key themes include the historical trajectory from the League of Nations to ICCPR Article 27, the “persons-belonging-to” formula, tensions between individual and collective protection, differences in normativity, and the absence of a universally binding definition of “minority,” with implications for non-derogability, enforcement, and sovereignty.

Designed for students, researchers, and practitioners of international human rights law, European human rights, and minority protection, the volume provides a multi-disciplinary map of doctrine and practice and a focused resource for courses in public international law, particularly human rights law, European law, and minority rights.