The member States of the Council of Europe and the other States, signatories to the present framework Convention,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage;
Considering that one of the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Wishing to follow-up the Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Council of Europe adopted in Vienna on 9 October 1993;
Being resolved to protect within their respective territories the existence of national minorities;
Considering that the upheavals of European history have shown that the protection of national minorities is essential to stability, democratic security and peace in this continent;
Considering that a pluralist and genuinely democratic society should
not only respect the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity
of each person belonging to a national minority, but also create appropriate
conditions enabling them to express, preserve and develop this identity;
Considering that the creation of a climate of tolerance and dialogue
is necessary to enable cultural diversity to be a source and a factor,
not of division, but of enrichment for each society;
Considering that the realisation of a tolerant and prosperous Europe does not depend solely on co-operation between States but also requires transfrontier co-operation between local and regional authorities without prejudice to the constitution and territorial integrity of each State;
Having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Protocols thereto;
Having regard to the commitments concerning the protection of national minorities in United Nations conventions and declarations and in the documents of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, particularly the Copenhagen Document of 29 June 1990;
Being resolved to define the principles to be respected and the obligations
which flow from them, in order to ensure, in the member States and such
other States as may become Parties to the present instrument, the effective
protection of national minorities and of the rights and freedoms of persons
belonging to those minorities, within the rule of law, respecting the territorial
integrity and national sovereignty of states;
Being determined to implement the principles set out in this framework
Convention through national legislation and appropriate governmental policies,
Have agreed as follows:
Section I
Article 1
The protection of national minorities and of the rights and freedoms
of persons belonging to those minorities forms an integral part of the
international protection of human rights, and as such falls within the
scope of international co-operation.
Article 2
The provisions of this framework Convention shall be applied in good
faith, in a spirit of understanding and tolerance and in conformity with
the principles of good neighbourliness, friendly relations and co-operation
between States.
Article 3
1. Every person belonging to a national minority
shall have the right freely to choose to be treated or not to be treated
as such and no disadvantage shall result from this choice or from the exercise
of the rights which are connected to that choice.
2. Persons belonging to national minorities
may exercise the rights and enjoy the freedoms flowing from the principles
enshrined in the present framework Convention individually as well as in
community with others.
Section II
Article 4
1. The Parties undertake to guarantee to persons
belonging to national minorities the right of equality before the law and
of equal protection of the law. In this respect, any discrimination based
on belonging to a national minority shall be prohibited.
2. The Parties undertake to adopt, where necessary,
adequate measures in order to promote, in all areas of economic, social,
political and cultural life, full and effective equality between persons
belonging to a national minority and those belonging to the majority. In
this respect, they shall take due account of the specific conditions of
the persons belonging to national minorities.
3. The measures adopted in accordance with
paragraph 2 shall not be considered to be an act of discrimination.
Article 5
1. The Parties undertake to promote the conditions
necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and
develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their
identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage.
2. Without prejudice to measures taken
in pursuance of their general integration policy, the Parties shall refrain
from policies or practices aimed at assimilation of persons belonging to
national minorities against their will and shall protect these persons
from any action aimed at such assimilation.
Article 6
1. The Parties shall encourage a spirit of
tolerance and intercultural dialogue and take effective measures to promote
mutual respect and understanding and co-operation among all persons living
on their territory, irrespective of those persons’ ethnic, cultural, linguistic
or religious identity, in particular in the fields of education, culture
and the media.
2 . The Parties undertake to take appropriate
measures to protect persons who may be subject to threats or acts of discrimination,
hostility or violence as a result of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic
or religious identity.
Article 7
The Parties shall ensure respect for the right of every person belonging
to a national minority to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association,
freedom of expression, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Article 8
The Parties undertake to recognise that every person belonging to a
national minority has the right to manifest his or her religion or belief
and to establish religious institutions, organisations and associations.
Article 9
1. The Parties undertake to recognise that
the right to freedom of expression of every person belonging to a national
minority includes freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information
and ideas in the minority language, without interference by public authorities
and regardless of frontiers. The Parties shall ensure, within the framework
of their legal systems, that persons belonging to a national minority are
not discriminated against in their access to the media.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not prevent Parties from
requiring the licensing, without discrimination and based on objective
criteria, of sound radio and television broadcasting, or cinema enterprises.
3. The Parties shall not hinder the creation
and the use of printed media by persons belonging to national minorities.
In the legal framework of sound radio and television broadcasting, they
shall ensure, as far as possible, and taking into account the provisions
of paragraph 1, that persons belonging to national minorities are granted
the possibility of creating and using their own media.
4. In the framework of their legal systems,
the Parties shall adopt adequate measures in order to facilitate access
to the media for persons belonging to national minorities and in order
to promote tolerance and permit cultural pluralism.
Article 10
1. The Parties undertake to recognise that
every person belonging to a national minority has the right to use freely
and without interference his or her minority language, in private and in
public, orally and in writing.
2. In areas inhabited by persons belonging
to national minorities traditionally or in substantial numbers, if those
persons so request and where such a request corresponds to a real need,
the Parties shall endeavour to ensure, as far as possible, the conditions
which would make it possible to use the minority language in relations
between those persons and the administrative authorities.
3. The Parties undertake to guarantee the right
of every person belonging to a national minority to be informed promptly,
in a language which he or she understands, of the reasons for his or her
arrest, and of the nature and cause of any accusation against him or her,
and to defend himself or herself in this language, if necessary with the
free assistance of an interpreter.
Article 11
1. The Parties undertake to recognise that
every person belonging to a national minority has the right to use his
or her surname (patronym) and first names in the minority language and
the right to official recognition of them, according to modalities provided
for in their legal system.
2. The Parties undertake to recognise that
every person belonging to a national minority has the right to display
in his or her minority language signs, inscriptions and other information
of a private nature visible to the public.
3. In areas traditionally inhabited by substantial
numbers of persons belonging to a national minority, the Parties shall
endeavour, in the framework of their legal system, including, where appropriate,
agreements with other States, and taking into account their specific conditions,
to display traditional local names, street names and other topographical
indications intended for the public also in the minority language when
there is a sufficient demand for such indications.
Article 12
1. The Parties shall, where appropriate, take
measures in the fields of education and research to foster knowledge of
the culture, history, language and religion of their national minorities
and of the majority.
2. In this context the Parties shall inter
alia provide adequate opportunities for teacher training and access to
textbooks, and facilitate contacts among students and teachers of different
communities.
3. The Parties undertake to promote equal opportunities
for access to education at all levels for persons belonging to national
minorities.
Article 13
1. Within the framework of their education
systems, the Parties shall recognise that persons belonging to a national
minority have the right to set up and to manage their own private educational
and training establishments.
2. The exercise of this right shall not entail
any financial obligation for the Parties.
Article 14
1. The Parties undertake to recognise that
every person belonging to a national minority has the right to learn his
or her minority language.
2. In areas inhabited by persons belonging
to national minorities traditionally or in substantial numbers, if there
is sufficient demand, the Parties shall endeavour to ensure, as far as
possible and within the framework of their education systems, that persons
belonging to those minorities have adequate opportunities for being taught
the minority language or for receiving instruction in this language.
3. Paragraph 2 of this article shall be implemented
without prejudice to the learning of the official language or the teaching
in this language.
Article 15
The Parties shall create the conditions necessary for the effective
participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural,
social and economic life and in public affairs, in particular those affecting
them.
Article 16
The Parties shall refrain from measures which alter the proportions
of the population in areas inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities
and are aimed at restricting the rights and freedoms flowing from the principles
enshrined in the present framework Convention.
Article 17
1. The Parties undertake not to interfere with
the right of persons belonging to national minorities to establish and
maintain free and peaceful contacts across frontiers with persons lawfully
staying in other States, in particular those with whom they share an ethnic,
cultural, linguistic or religious identity, or a common cultural heritage.
2. The Parties undertake not to interfere with
the right of persons belonging to national minorities to participate in
the activities of non-governmental organisations, both at the national
and international levels.
Article 18
1. The Parties shall endeavour to conclude,
where necessary, bilateral and multilateral agreements with other States,
in particular neighbouring States, in order to ensure the protection of
persons belonging to the national minorities concerned.
2. Where relevant, the Parties shall take measures
to encourage transfrontier co-operation.
Article 19
The Parties undertake to respect and implement the principles enshrined
in the present framework Convention making, where necessary, only those
limitations, restrictions or derogations which are provided for in international
legal instruments, in particular the Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in so far as they are relevant to the
rights and freedoms flowing from the said principles.
Section III
Article 20
In the exercise of the rights and freedoms flowing from the principles
enshrined in the present framework Convention, any person belonging to
a national minority shall respect the national legislation and the rights
of others, in particular those of persons belonging to the majority or
to other national minorities.
Article 21
Nothing in the present framework Convention shall be interpreted as
implying any right to engage in any activity or perform any act contrary
to the fundamental principles of international law and in particular of
the sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence
of States.
Article 22
Nothing in the present framework Convention shall be construed as limiting
or derogating from any of the human rights and fundamental freedoms which
may be ensured under the laws of any Contracting Party or under any other
agreement to which it is a Party.
Article 23
The rights and freedoms flowing from the principles enshrined in the
present framework Convention, in so far as they are the subject of a corresponding
provision in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms or in the Protocols thereto, shall be understood so as to conform
to the latter provisions.
Section IV
Article 24
1. The Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe shall monitor the implementation of this framework Convention
by the Contracting Parties.
2. The Parties which are not members of the
Council of Europe shall participate in the implementation mechanism, according
to modalities to be determined.
Article 25
1. Within a period of one year following the
entry into force of this framework Convention in respect of a Contracting
Party, the latter shall transmit to the Secretary-General of the Council
of Europe full information on the legislative and other measures taken
to give effect to the principles set out in this framework Convention.
2. Thereafter, each Party shall transmit to
the Secretary-General on a periodical basis and whenever the Committee
of Ministers so requests any further information of relevance to the implementation
of this framework Convention.
3. The Secretary-General shall forward to the
Committee of Ministers the information transmitted under the terms of this
Article.
Article 26
1. In evaluating the adequacy of the measures
taken by the Parties to give effect to the principles set out in this framework
Convention the Committee of Ministers shall be assisted by an advisory
committee, the members of which shall have recognised expertise in the
field of the protection of national minorities.
2. The composition of this advisory committee
and its procedure shall be determined by the Committee of Ministers within
a period of one year following the entry into force of this framework Convention.
Section V
Article 27
This framework Convention shall be open for signature by the member
States of the Council of Europe. Up until the date when the Convention
enters into force, it shall also be open for signature by any other State
so invited by the Committee of Ministers. It is subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
Article 28
1. This framework Convention shall enter into force on the first day
of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after
the date on which twelve member States of the Council of Europe have expressed
their consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the provisions
of Article 27.
2. In respect of any member State which subsequently expresses its
consent to be bound by it, the framework Convention shall enter into force
on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three
months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification,
acceptance or approval.
Article 29
1. After the entry into force of this framework
Convention and after consulting the Contracting States, the Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite to accede to the Convention,
by a decision taken by the majority provided for in Article 20.d of the
Statute of the Council of Europe, any non-member State of the Council of
Europe which, invited to sign in accordance with the provisions of Article
27, has not yet done so, and any other non-member State.
2. In respect of any acceding State, the framework
Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following
the expiration of a period of three months after the date of the deposit
of the instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the Council
of Europe.
Article 30
1. Any State may at the time of signature or
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession, specify the territory or territories for whose international
relations it is responsible to which this framework Convention shall apply.
2. Any State may at any later date, by a declaration
addressed to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, extend the
application of this framework Convention to any other territory specified
in the declaration. In respect of such territory the framework Convention
shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration
of a period of three months after the date of receipt of such declaration
by the Secretary-General.
3. Any declaration made under the two preceding
paragraphs may, in respect of any territory specified in such declaration,
be withdrawn by a notification addressed to the Secretary-General. The
withdrawal shall become effective on the first day of the month following
the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of
such notification by the Secretary-General.
Article 31
1. Any Party may at any time denounce this
framework Convention by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary-General
of the Council of Europe.
2. Such denunciation shall become effective
on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six
months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.
Article 32
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member
States of the Council, other signatory States and any State which has acceded
to this framework Convention, of:
a. any signature;
b. the deposit of any instrument
of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
c. any date of entry into
force of this framework Convention in accordance with Articles 28, 29 and
30;
d. any other act, notification
or communication relating to this framework Convention.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto,
have signed this framework Convention.
Done at Strasbourg, this 1st day of February 1995, in English and French,
both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited
in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary-General of
the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each member State
of the Council of Europe and to any State invited to sign or accede to
this framework Convention.