Europos Tarybos tautinių mažumų apsaugos pagrindų konvencijos įgyvendinimas Lietuvos Respublikoje

Abstract

The master graduation paper analyses the subject “Implementation of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the protection of National Minorities by the Republic of Lithuania”. The goal of the graduation paper is to define implementation problems of the Framework Convention and to find possible solutions. At the first chapter a problem of defining a national minority in the international law and domestic law of the Republic of Lithuania is discussed. Since there is no definition of a national minority in the international law, it is being identified through analysis of international documents, traveaux préparatoires, expert opinions and doctrine. It is also analysed, if a notion in the domestic law is compatible with a conception in the international law. At the second chapter the main provisions of the Framework Convention are overviewed. Rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities are analysed according to the case-law of the Advisory Committee of Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. Due to this analysis the main problems of implementation of the Framework Convention by Member States are identified. Moreover, the best practises according to the opinion of the Advisory Committee are presented, which may be used while protecting national minorities in Lithuania. At the third chapter implementation of the Framework Convention by the Republic of Lithuania is discussed. According to the analysis of the Advisory Committee the main problems of implementation are identified and suggestions to policy-makers and legislators of Lithuania are presented. At the end of the graduation paper the amendments of a draft law on National Minorities and measures on how to improve education policy, encourage integration of Roma people and other national minorities, as well as other suggestions, are proposed. The main sources, used in the graduation paper, were international documents, laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, foreign and national literature and the case-law of the Advisory Committee and European Court of Human Rights.