Book review of Patrick Thornberry & María Amor Martín Estébanez\u27s Minority Rights in Europ

Decker, D. Christopher

English

Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review Volume 11 Article 6 9-1-2005 Minority Rights in Europe D. Christopher Decker European Centre for Minority Issues Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/bhrlr  Part of the European Law Commons, and the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation D. C. Decker, Minority Rights in Europe, 11 Buff. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 129 (2005). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/bhrlr/vol11/iss1/6 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Buffalo Human Rights Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact lawscholar@buffalo.edu. MINORITY RIGHTS IN EUROPEPATRICK THORN3ERRY & MARiA AMOR MARTIN ESTPBANEZSTRASBOURG, FRANCE: COUNCIL OF EUROPE PUBLISHING, 2004.PP. 682. $80, C53.D. Christopher Decker*In the last decade there has been a significant amount of attentionfocused on minority rights in Europe for two main reasons. First, the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars that occurred brought minority rightsto the forefront of European attention, since these events conjured imagesof the treatment of minorities in World War II. Second, the EuropeanUnion adopted the Copenhagen Criteria, which are a series of requirementsfor candidate states to meet in order to become members. Among the crite-ria is "stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law,human rights and respect for and protection of minorities."' With the open-ing up of Eastern Europe and the enlargement of the European Union intothese states, the emphasis on minority rights has been made a priority. Assuch, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding ofminority rights in Europe by exploring the work of one of Europe's mainactors in the area of minority rights, the Council of Europe.This book primarily 2 focuses on the plethora of mechanisms, bodiesand institutions that are responsible for monitoring, promoting and protect-ing minority rights, and the standards that this machinery is setting forCouncil of Europe states. The overarching theme of the book is to "presentan account and a substantive critique of the principle minority-related stan-dards mechanisms, as well as their work and potential for development."3The introduction mentions the work of other international organiza-tions such as the League of Nations, United Nations, International LabourOrganization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, andEuropean Union, in the area of minority rights. And while the stereotypicaldiscourse would point to minority rights in an East/West paradigm, the au-thors rightly point out that Western European states are facing the same* Senior Research Associate with the European Centre for Minority Issues, inFlensburg, Germany.1 EUROPEAN UNION ENLARGEMENT: A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY, at http://eu-ropa.eu.int/conn/enlargement/intro/criteria.htm.2 One chapter in the book is designed as a case study of how the Council ofEurope bodies deal with the Roma.3 PATRICK THORNBERRY & MARfA AMOR MARTIN ESTtBANEZ, MINORITYRIGHTS IN EUROPE 28 (2004).130 BUFFALO HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REVIEW Vol. 11problems of racism, discrimination and xenophobia as is the case in EasternEurope, thus making the need for the Council of Europe's mechanisms allthe more important in the area of minority protection for the whole of Eu-rope. The authors structured the book by analyzing the mechanisms thatcreate binding law and move toward institutions making "soft law" andother non-judicial machinery.The chapter on the European Convention on Human Rights(ECHR) looks at the historical attempts to create a minority-specific clauseand then explores how the ECHR and the jurisprudence of the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights (the Court) have developed issues related to minori-ties such as self-identification, self-determination, non-discrimination, lan-guage, education, religion and participation, inter alia.The book also explores the Framework Convention for the Protec-tion of National Minorities (FCNM). This chapter addresses the issues thathave traditionally detracted from the FCNM, including the notion of"framework" diluting the applicability of the FCNM, the belief that theterms are more aspirational than obligatory, and the lack of a definition.The authors discuss these matters and illustrate the great strength in theFCNM. The substantive rights included in the FCNM, such as non-discrim-ination and positive measures, culture, education, language, participation,cross-border contacts and obligations of minorities, and others, are alsodiscussed.The authors address the European Charter for Regional or MinorityLanguages (the Charter) and discuss the philosophical basis of the Charteras well as the definition and scope. The authors also explore the Charter'streatment of "migrant languages," official languages and dialects. A clearand succinct explanation of the territorial application and the exceptions fornon-territorial languages under the Charter is also provided.The book goes on to describe the intergovernmental organs and po-litical aspects of the Council of Europe's minority rights protection scheme.The authors illustrate how the Committee of Ministers (CoM), through itssummits, declarations and recommendations, has had a positive effect onthe development of minority rights protection over the past fifteen years.Particular attention is paid to the two summits and involvement of the CoMin the creation of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, and its role inKosovo and Chechnya. While the authors credit the CoM with its achieve-ments, they also critique its lack of leadership on the issue of minority pro-tection and the tendency of the CoM "to consider the minority question asconfined to the states of central and eastern Europe."4 The authors alsopoint out the role of the CoM as the main monitoring mechanism, and how4 Id. at 250.MINORITY RIGHTS IN EUROPEthis has lead to a lack of transparent monitoring. The chapter concludesthat this monitoring function has not lived up to its potential and this hashindered the possibility of minority protection, especially in Western Euro-pean states. Through this point, the authors offer proof of their assertionthat the Council of Europe has dealt with minority rights protection differ-ently in Eastern versus Western Europe. A further chapter notes the variouscommittees and the Council of Europe Secretariat and how these bodiesdevelop and implement minority rights standards. This chapter is particu-larly interesting, as the work that these bodies undertake is usually not ex-amined in the depth provided.Another area that the book explores is the work of the Parliamen-tary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The book traces PACE'swork before the political change in 1990 and after, treating this period as apivotal point in minority rights protection. Notably, the authors point outthat PACE mostly criticized non-members prior to 1990 and that the criti-cism of state protection of minorities was focused on Eastern Europe from1990 onward, adding weight to an underlying theme of the book. Further-more, the chapter on PACE monitoring of minority rights in states, pre- andpost-accession to the Council of Europe, provides a particularly interestinginsight into an area where little attention has been paid.5Other chapters explore the work of the Congress of Local and Re-gional Authorities of Europe, the European Commission against Racismand Intolerance and the Commissioner for Human Rights.The authors' conclusions bear out some important points. In rela-tion to the ECHR, the authors come to the conclusion that while the ECHRand the Court have great potential to make a direct impact on minorityrights, the "institutional practice is somewhat equivocal."' 6 Moreover, theFCNM and the Charter will most likely be the best tools for the protectionof minorities in Europe, as time and practice allow these instruments to takehold. While the authors note the problems and drawbacks of the politicalaspects of the Council of Europe's attempts to protect minorities, they alsoconclude that the Council of Europe has created an example that can beimparted to the world.7This book presents a comprehensive overview of the Council ofEurope's protection of minority rights. It is a great addition to scholarship5 While the European Union Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) ofthe Open Society Institute has looked at minority protection vis-ii-vis EuropeanUnion accession, little public attention has been paid to accession to the Council ofEurope.6 THORNBERRY & ESTtBANEZ, supra note 3, at 73.7 Id. at 668.2005132 BUFFALO HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REVIEW Vol. 11in the area of minority rights and specifically toward furthering understand-ing of the lesser-known mechanisms of the Council of Europe. While thevolume is an excellent resource for students, practitioners and academics,the book is slightly euphuistic and difficile thereby, making it potentiallyless accessible to students.

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