Hilpold & Perathoner: Festschrift für Professor Gilbert Gornig

Peter Hilpold (Universität Innsbruck - Law) & Christoph Perathoner (Christoph Perathoner & Partner) have published Festschrift für Professor Gilbert Gornig (Nomos/Facultas 2023). The table of contents is here (Volume 1: Europäisches Minderheitenrecht/Volume 2: Völkerrecht – Europarecht – Deutsches Recht). Here's the abstract:

Die zweibändige Festschrift zu Ehren von Professor Gilbert Gornig feiert das Lebenswerk eines herausragenden Rechtswissenschaftlers und Menschen. Als Wissenschaftler hat er Beeindruckendes geleistet und wirkt nach wie vor beispielgebend, nicht zuletzt für den akademischen Nachwuchs. Als Mensch überzeugt er durch Humanität und seine Fähigkeit zur Empathie. Beide Bände der Festschrift spiegeln die Vielzahl an Rechtsgebieten wider, in welchen der Jubilar wirkte und wirkt. Dazu zählt vor allem das Minderheitenrecht, aber auch das Völkerrecht, das Europarecht sowie das deutsche Recht im Allgemeinen.

Kriesel: Peoples' Rights: Gruppenrechte im Völkerrecht: Theorie und Praxis des kollektiven Menschenrechtsschutzes in Afrika, Amerika und Europa

Julia Kriesel has published Peoples' Rights: Gruppenrechte im Völkerrecht: Theorie und Praxis des kollektiven Menschenrechtsschutzes in Afrika, Amerika und Europa (Mohr Siebeck 2020). Here's the abstract:

Die Peoples ' Rights aus dem afrikanischen Menschenrechtsschutzsystem sind bislang eine Unbekannte, die allenfalls unter dem Blickwinkel des Kulturrelativismus wahrgenommen wird. Gruppenrechte als Menschenrechte scheinen angesichts des Primats der Individualrechte undenkbar. Indes offenbart die erstmalige Gesamtschau von der Ideengeschichte (innerhalb und jenseits des Nationalstaates), dem theoretischen Diskurs zu kollektiven Rechtspositionen und der Praxis des internationalen Menschenrechtsschutzes ein anderes Bild. Julia Kriesel unternimmt eine rechtsvergleichende Analyse des afrikanischen, amerikanischen und europäischen Menschenrechtssystems und zeigt, dass der Schutz von Gruppen durch Menschenrechte (unabhängig von der rechtspositivistischen Ausgangssituation) längst Realität ist. Hervor tritt eine Verflechtung von Individual- und Gruppenschutz mit einem (teilweise neuen) umfassenden Menschenrechtsverständnis.

Gagliardi: Minority Rights, Feminism and International Law: Voices of Amazigh Women in Morocco

Silvia Gagliardi has published Minority Rights, Feminism and International Law: Voices of Amazigh Women in Morocco (Routledge 2020). Here's the abstract:

Investigating minority and indigenous women’s rights in Muslim-majority states, this book critically examines the human rights regime within international law. Based on extensive and diverse ethnographic research on Amazigh women in Morocco, the book unpacks and challenges generally accepted notions of rights and equality. Significantly, and controversially, the book challenges the supposedly ‘emancipatory’ power vested in the human rights project; arguing that rights-based discourses are sites of contestation for different groups that use them to assert their agency in society. More specifically, it shows how the very conditions that make minority and indigenous women instrumental to the preservation of their culture may condemn them to a position of subalternity. In response, and engaging the notion and meaning of Islamic feminism, the book proposes that feminism should be interpreted and contextualised locally in order to be effective and inclusive, and so in order for the human rights project to fully realise its potential to empower the marginalised and make space for their voices to be heard.

Call for Submissions: The Protection of Minorities under International Law

The journal Laws has issued a call for submissions for a special issue on "The Protection of Minorities under International Law," to be guest edited by Noelle Higgins (Maynooth Univ. - Law). Here's the call:

The protection of minorities has been a central issue in inter-state relationships since the rise of the state system in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and indeed, the protection of minority groups is one of the oldest motifs of international law. However, minority groups continue to be targeted in various places around the world, with a recent increase in attacks on minorities through the destruction of cultural property in the Middle East. Minority cultures are being destroyed, their identity is being attacked, and their very existence is under threat. Despite the numerous problems facing the world’s minorities, no universal binding instrument exists to protect them. While the rights of national minorities in the fields of language, ethnicity and religion had been protected under the League of Nations regime, when the UN was created, there was a difference of opinion as to if, and indeed how, the rights of minorities should be dealt with within its framework. The lack of agreement on the question of minorities led to their omission from the UDHR, with only a limited reference to the protection of general cultural rights. Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted in 1966, is the only universal legal binding provision on the rights of minorities, providing that ‘[i]n 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’.[1] However, the question must be asked if this provision is adequate to address the multifarious threats facing today’s minority groups, or if the legal framework needs to be re-imagined in the face of increased threats to the survival of minority groups? This is the focus of this Special Issue.

(a) The focus of this Special Issue is the protection of the rights of minorities under international law. It will deal with the extant legal framework, both from an international and regional perspective and analyze how the legal framework is implemented in practice.

(b) Numerous issues face minority groups, and the Special Issue will address a number of these, including minority identity; minority culture; destruction of cultural property belonging to minority groups; linguistic rights; religious rights etc.

(c) The purpose of the Special Issue is to bring together academics working in the field of minority rights to provide perspectives on a number of current issues facing minority groups and on how the international legal framework applies. The Special Issue will provide an in-depth analysis of the how the extant legal framework on the rights of minorities operates and can apply in practice.

The Special Issue will draw on, and develop, the seminal work on the rights of minorities by Thornberry International Law and the Rights of Minorities, (Clarendon Press, 1991), Minority Rights in Europe (Council of Europe, 2004), Weller, The Rights of Minorities in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2006), Universal Minority Rights (Oxford University Press, 2007) Pentassuglia, Minority Groups and Judicial Discourse in International Law (Brill, 2009) and Castellino, Global Minority Rights (Ashgate, 2011). It will also analyse literature on cultural diversity concerning minority groups, e.g., Pentassuglia, Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Challenges and Critiques (Brill, 2017), religious concerns of minority groups, e.g. Ghanea, The Challenge of Religious Discrimination at the Dawn of the New Millennium (Brill, 2004) and the destruction of the cultural property of such groups, e.g. Turku, The Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018).

[1] Article 27 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UNGA Res 2200A (XXI).

Dr. Noelle Higgins
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charges (APCs) of 350 CHF (Swiss Francs) per published paper are fully funded by institutions through the Knowledge Unlatched initiative, resulting in no direct charge to authors. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Brückner: Minderheitenschutz im Völkerstrafrecht

Wenke Brückner has published Minderheitenschutz im Völkerstrafrecht (Nomos 2018). Here's the abstract:

Minderheiten sind als Opfer von Völkerstraftaten unfreiwillige Akteure des Völkerstrafrechts, jedoch nur bedingt durch die relevanten Tatbestände des Völkermords, der Menschlichkeitsverbrechen und Kriegsverbrechen geschützt. Das allgemeine Völkerrecht gewährt Minderheiten im Rahmen der Menschenrechte aus verschiedenen Gründen eigene Rechtspositionen und schützt so deren eigenständige Identität. Demgegenüber komplementiert das Völkerstrafrecht diesen Schutz durch die Sanktionierung massiver Menschenrechtsverletzungen nur in einem eingeschränkten Umfang. Um diesen Schutzumfang und Art und Weise des Schutzes von Minderheiten zu bestimmen, vergleicht die vorliegende Untersuchung allgemeines Völkerrecht und Völkerstrafrecht. Dabei ist maßgeblich, inwieweit das Völkerstrafrecht Minderheiten spezifisch in ihrer Identität berücksichtigt und welche anerkannten Rechtspositionen von Minderheiten es unmittelbar oder mittelbar schützt.

Conference: Hybrid Warfare and Minorities

On June 26, 2015, the Centre for International Law and Human Rights at the University of Lancaster will host a conference on "Hybrid Warfare and Minorities." The program is here. Here's the idea:

This conference looks at recent trends in unconventional warfare involving cyber-attacks, the media and the use of irregular forces, and their relationship with human and minority rights. Three panels will address 1. Cyberwarfare, Freedom of Expression and Minorities; 2. Hybrid Warfare and Attribution; 3. Hybrid Warfare and the Concept of “Attack”. Keynote speakers are Dr Thomas D. Grant (University of Cambridge) and Professor Bill Bowring (Birkbeck, University of London).

Call for Papers: Hybrid Warfare and Minority Rights

The Centre for International Law and Human Rights at the University of Lancaster has issued a call for papers for a conference on "Hybrid Warfare and Minority Rights." Here's the call:

Call for Papers

Conference on Hybrid Warfare and Minority Rights

Centre for International Law and Human Rights

University of Lancaster, 26 June 2015

The current conflict in Ukraine has raised the challenge of hybrid warfare in European security. This is a method of combat which combines conventional forces to occupy territory with unconventional means – cyber attacks, mobilisation of irregular forces by intelligence agencies, propaganda of war, and acts of sabotage – conducted through disinformation and deniability. Ethnic minorities have provided the focus for this military doctrine. Their rights and self-determination have provided the pretext, cover and justification for intervention and occupation of state territory. Moreover, the initial stages of these conflicts are intended to blend in with familiar forms of protest that might be seen in disaffected minorities – marches, demonstrations and occupation of public buildings. This thin and blurred line creates the possibility for rapid escalation, either intentionally or unintentionally, posing serious security issues, especially in the Baltic region. It also raises key questions for international law in terms of minority and human rights and threshold for the use of force.

This event will investigate the relationship between hybrid warfare and minority rights from three international law and human rights perspectives:

1. Protection of Minority Rights and Hybrid Warfare

The use of minority rights as a pretext for intervention can be destructive of the rights in question. In the interwar period the use of minority rights by neighbouring kin states was a major factor in the collapse of the minority treaties regimes in the 1930s. In contemporary human rights law, national security can be a legitimate ground for restricting rights. Specific rights of minorities affected by hybrid warfare include cultural rights, assembly and association, expression and economic and social rights.

2. Freedom of Expression in the Media and Cyberspace

Integral elements of hybrid warfare are the use of propaganda, internet trolling and cyberwarfare. This raises questions of freedom of expression in relation to national security, respect for rights of others, ethnic non-discrimination and war propaganda.

3. Hybrid Warfare and the Threshold for Armed Attack and State Responsibility

Cyberwarfare, incursions of unidentified armed groups and activities of intelligence agencies are intended to blur the threshold for an “armed attack” for the purposes of self-defence. They also challenge the concept of “control” in the attribution of state responsibility for the actions of non-state actors.

We welcome abstracts for papers of no more than one page from both established researchers and early career academics. Please send your proposals to Dr. James Summers j.summers@lancaster.ac.uk. The deadline for abstracts is 1 May 2015.

Hofmann et al.: Rahmenübereinkommen zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten

Rainer Hofmann, Doris Angst, Emma Lantschner, Günther Rautz, & Detlev Rein have published Rahmenübereinkommen zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten: Handkommentar (Nomos 2015). Here's the abstract:

Das Rahmenübereinkommen zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten ist das mit Abstand wichtigste völkerrechtliche Instrument im Bereich des Minderheitenschutzes, nicht zuletzt dank eines erfolgreichen Überwachungssystems, bei dem das Ministerkomitee und ein Beratender Ausschuss eng zusammenarbeiten. Unterschiedliche Situationen von Minderheiten in den verschiedenen Mitgliedstaaten und die Problematik, dass oft politisch sensible Bereiche betroffen sind, führen dazu, dass seine Bestimmungen verschiedene Interpretationen und Anwendungsmethoden zulassen.

Der neue Handkommentar bietet als erste umfassende deutschsprachige Darstellung eine verlässliche Interpretationsquelle, die den Inhalt der einzelnen Artikel des Rahmenübereinkommens vollständig erfasst und gemeineuropäische Standards entwickelt. Zusätzlich wird die einschlägige Lage in den deutschsprachigen Mitgliedstaaten (Deutschland, Österreich und Schweiz) sowie in Italien (mit Schwerpunkt Südtirol) erörtert.

Zugrunde gelegt sind dem die Interpretationen der Staaten, die aus den Staatenberichten ersichtlich sind, bezüglich ihrer Verpflichtungen aus dem Rahmenübereinkommen, zum anderen die Stellungnahmen (opinion) des beratenden Ausschusses und die Resolutionen (resolutions) des Ministerkomitees.

Hilpold: The League of Nations and the Protection of Minorities – Rediscovering a Great Experiment

Peter Hilpold (Univ. of Innsbruck - Law) has posted The League of Nations and the Protection of Minorities – Rediscovering a Great Experiment (Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The First World War led to far-reaching borders changes in Europe. As a consequence, a series of new minorities was created. In order to make sure that these minorities were treated properly and to avoid the creation of new national conflicts several states had to assume obligations for the protection of these minorities. The whole system was put under the guarantee of the League of Nations. The resulting system was an extraordinary experiment. The basis for human rights protection that should start after the Second World War was formed. The resulting system caught enormous academic interest in that time. With the failure of this system interest for the League´s minority protection rules stopped nearly at once. When interest for minority protection started again, this time at the UN level, it seemed that a wholly new basis had been found and that the inter-war experiment had been totally futile.

In this contribution it will be shown that the inter-war ideas and concepts of minority protection live on and that the insights gained in that time in the particularities of minority protection justify a return to respective literature. Furthermore, also the reasons for the demise of this system should be reconsidered. In fact, in the past all too easily the minorities themselves were held responsible for the failure of this order. In this context it is often said that minorities often behaved in a disloyal manner and therefore it was at least understandable that minority states over the years treated their minorities badly and finally denounced these obligations. In reality, however, such an attitude rests on a radical misinterpretation of the loyalty principle and on a denial of historic facts. Thereby a last and final act of injustice is set against these minorities that had to suffer enormous discrimination if not outright annihilation during the Second World War and in its immediate aftermath. It is suggested here that by a renewed academic interest for the rules on minority protection created in this period not only justice will be done to the lot of peoples that were exposed to enormous suffering but also much can be gained for present-day endeavours for minority and human rights protection.

Brölmann: The Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Rights of Groups and Individuals

Catherine M. Brölmann (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) has posted The Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Rights of Groups and Individuals (in The Lasting Legacy of the Permanent Court of International Justice, Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Christian J. Tams & Panos Merkouris eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The Permanent Court of International Justice was established in a period in which the position of the State as the natural form of political organization had come under pressure, among others, in academic-legal circles. It was also the period in which international-legal concern for groups within the State became institutionalized, notably through the efforts of the League of Nations. And while the League brought institutional and procedural novelties, the Permanent Court - without much doctrine or precedent to rely on - contributed on significant points to the development of international law regarding non-State groups and individuals. It is a matter of debate whether in the interbellum international ‘rights’ or only ‘benefits’ for these entities were at issue but the Permanent Court’s contribution to the legal emancipation of individuals and - especially - minorities is undisputed (think for instance of the notion of 'formal and substantive equality’, the element of 'self-identification' as it came to be called in the 1970s, and the ‘factual approach’ to the existence of minorities or other legally relevant groups). This paper traces the contours of that contribution in the international-legal context of the time and in some hallmark PCIJ decisions.

Hilpold, Steinmair, & Perathoner: Rechtsvergleichung an der Sprachgrenze

Peter Hilpold (Universität Innsbruck - Law), Walter Steinmair, & Christoph Perathoner have published Rechtsvergleichung an der Sprachgrenze (Peter Lang 2011). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Rechtsvergleichung gewinnt auch im deutschsprachigen Raum immer mehr an Bedeutung. Dieser Band beschäftigt sich mit speziellen Fragen der Rechtsvergleichung an der deutsch-italienischen Sprachgrenze. Erarbeitet wurden die Beiträge überwiegend an der Universität Innsbruck unter Beteiligung weiterer internationaler Experten, wobei traditionelle Forschungsschwerpunkte dieser Universität im rechtsvergleichenden Bereich näher ausgeleuchtet wurden. So geht es in diesem Sammelband um Grundgedanken der Rechtsfragen in mehrsprachigen Rechtsordnungen und Rechtsräumen, um die Besonderheiten des rechtsvergleichenden Dialogs zwischen Österreich und Italien, um Fragen der grenzüberschreitenden Kooperation im Alpenraum, um das Thema Minderheitenschutz und Selbstbestimmung, um die Entwicklung der Privatrechtsordnungen in dieser Region, um die Föderalismusdebatte in Österreich und in Italien und um Fragen der Bildungskooperation in einem sich herausbildenden europäischen Bildungsraum.

Conference: Minority and Indigenous Rights: Emerging Themes and Challenges

The Human Rights Consortium of the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and Brunel Law School will sponsor a conference on "Minority and Indigenous Rights: Emerging Themes and Challenges," November 18-19, 2010, at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. The program is here.

Weller: Political Participation of Minorities: A Commentary on International Standards and Practice

Marc Weller (Univ. of Cambridge - Law) has published Political Participation of Minorities: A Commentary on International Standards and Practice (Oxford Univ. Press 2010). Here's the abstract:

This Commentary provides the reader with a review of international standards and practice relating to the political participation of minorities. Political participation has been increasingly recognized as a foundational issue in the debate about minority rights. It is argued that minorities are more likely to feel co-ownership in the state if they have the opportunity to participate freely and effectively in all aspects of its governance, and that sustained and meaningful engagement will guard against the sense of alienation and exclusion among minorities that often emerges in ethnically divided societies.

Taking as its starting point the two most important standard-setting documents in the field - the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life, developed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Council of Europe's Thematic Commentary on the Issue of Political Participation of Minorities - the Commentary locates the international legal entitlement to political participation within the wider context of the right to democratic governance. It also considers effective participation in relation to the right to full and effective equality, as well as the legal entrenchment of these provisions and implementation mechanisms. Individual chapters then consider each of the principal mechanisms aimed at enhancing political participation, ranging from procedures covering minority representation in political institutions to consultative mechanisms and autonomy solutions.

Lantschner: Soft jurisprudence im Minderheitenrecht

Emma Lantschner has published Soft jurisprudence im Minderheitenrecht: Standardsetzung und Konfliktbearbeitung durch Kontrollmechanismen bi- und multilateraler Instrumente (Nomos 2009). Here's the abstract:

Die Arbeit geht der Frage nach, inwiefern sich die multilaterale und die bilaterale Ebene in ihren Bemühungen im Bereich des Minderheitenschutzes hinsichtlich der standardsetzenden und der konfliktbearbeitenden Funktion ergänzen. Im Zentrum der Untersuchung stehen dabei die Kontrollmechanismen bi- und multilateraler Instrumente. Auf der Seite der multilateralen Mechanismen nimmt eine Analyse der Stellungnahmen des Beratenden Ausschusses für das Rahmenübereinkommen des Europarats zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten breiten Raum ein. Auf der bilateralen Ebene werden hauptsächlich die Gemischten Kommissionen zur Überwachung der bilateralen Verträge, die Ungarn mit seinen Nachbarstaaten abgeschlossen hat, untersucht.

Eine umfassende monographische Bearbeitung, die für die einzelnen im Rahmenübereinkommen gewährten Rechte anhand der Stellungnahmen des Beratenden Ausschusses Standards ermittelt, gab es bislang nicht. Auch war es aufgrund der dürftigen Quellenlage zu den Tätigkeiten und Ergebnissen von Gemischten Kommissionen bisher schwierig, deren Funktionen und Wirkung zu untersuchen. Im Zuge der Recherchen an dieser Arbeit konnten neue Materialien zugänglich gemacht und verarbeitet werden. Die vorliegende Publikation schließt damit zwei Lücken in der bisher bestehenden Literatur zum Minderheitenrecht.

HIlpold: Minderheitenschutz in Italien

Peter Hilpold (Universität Innsbruck - Law) has published Minderheitenschutz in Italien (Braumüller 2009). Here's the abstract:

Italien besitzt eine komplexe ethnisch-sprachliche Struktur, gleichzeitig aber eine ziemlich junge Tradition im Bereich Minderheitenschutz. Die italienische Verfassung enthält in Artikel 6 ein klares Bekenntnis zum Minderheitenschutz, dessen Umsetzung nur sehr zögerlich erfolgte. Mittlerweile sind vorbildhafte Regelungen in Kraft getreten. Verstärkte Verpflichtungen auch auf völkerrechtlicher und europarechtlicher Ebene bringen Minderheiten und ihre Angehörigen in Italien direkt und indirekt in den Genuss vielfältiger Schutzverbürgungen.

Der Herausgeber Peter Hilpold analysiert ihre rechtliche und faktische Situation: Spezielles Augenmerk legen er und seine AutorInnen Barbara Czernilofsky, Oskar Peterlini, Sarah Siller und Valeria Piergigli auf das Spannungsfeld Individualrechtsschutz und Schutz kollektiver Rechte – eine detaillierte Ausleuchtung der italienischen wie auch gesamteuropäischer Perspektiven.