マイノリテイの權利槪念 = The Notion of Minority Rights

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Minority rights have been debated within intemational law predominantly as a matter conceming the preservation of ethnic minorities. When discussing minorities these days, the primary point of reference for the concept is what is stipulated in article 27 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states the following: In 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 practice their own religion, or to use their own language. However, this understanding of minorities as proposed in the context of international law represents a narrow notion of minorities. Presently there is a wide array of minority groups, including women, children, the disabled, etc. This paper will consider these groups as part of a broad notion of minorities and it will examine the relationship of this broad notion with the narrow notion of minorities, analysing the problems that arise form these conceptualisations. According to the narow notion, a minority is a group that possesses some kind of unique quality that distinguishes it form the majority and has a desire to preserve its distinguishing quality. This understanding also assumes that affiliation with a minority is up to the individual and her subjective definition of her identity. A broad understanding of a minority, on the other hand, comprises groups beyond the ones that aim to preserve some distinct qualities. On the contrary, it covers groups who wish to get rid of their distinction form the majority, or would prefor to be assimilated with the majority. Consequently, when considering minorities in the broad notion, it is difficult to find any other definition for them than groups that face some form of discrimination. However, considering broad minorities as nothing more than groups that are discriminated against makes it difficult to establish the individual`s affiliation with the minority and her subjective sense of identity. These groups are united by virtue of discrimination and work together to secure their rights. Such grouping perhaps compose significant bodies in a practical sense, but recognising fixed characteristics or identities in such collectives is equivalent to acknowledging minorities that, in fact, have been singled out by the criteria of discriminatory majorities. Giving the definition of minorities increased flexibility carries the hazard of complicating the meaning of mionrity rights. Asseriting rights in the name of minrity rights may have some contemporary and practical signficance. However, further consideration should be given to whether it should constitute a new legal category in the order of human rights.