"evropuli qartia saqarTvelo "European Charter for Regional or ...

Council of Europe regarded it necessary to publish the legal acts separately
in order to protect languages of historical (autochthonous) ethnic minorities
as well as linguistic rights of new minorities 355
. For instance, expert
Asbjørn Eide stated:
"In the system of the UN there is a clear distinction between the
rights of historical (aboriginal) minorities and those of persons who belong
356
to minorities" .
In general, the linguistic rights of national (ethnic) minorities are
357
safeguarded by constitutions and other legislative documents of almost
all states, as well as the UN "Declaration on the Rights of Persons
Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities"
358 , the recommendations of OSCE, Oslo 359 and Lund 360
;
"Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minori-
361
ties" by the Council of Europe" .
As for the "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages",
it is the only specific international legal documents that deals with
the protection of linguistic-cultural identity of autochthonous population
355
on term “new minority” see the above mentioned article by Robert Dunbar; there is a
particular discussion regarding the differences in the linguistic rights of historical and
new minorities.
356
“Comments: global and regional attitudes towards minority situations, Filling the
Frame, collection of documents, 2004, p. 47.
357
For instance, see The Constitution of Georgia, Article 38: 1. Citizens of Georgia
shall be equal in social, economic, cultural and political life irrespective of their national,
ethnic, religious or linguistic belonging. In accordance with universally recognized
principles and rules of international law, they shall have the right to develop
freely, without any discrimination and interference, their culture, to use their mother
tongue in private and in public. Article 85: Legal proceedings shall be conducted in the
state language. An individual not having a command of the state language shall be provided
with an interpreter…
358 th
Was adopted at 47 session on February 3, 1993
.(www.diversity.ge/eng/resources.php?coi=0|14|11|11|11).
359
The Oslo Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities
& Explanatory Note, February 1998 (deals with the linguistic rights of ethnic minorities:
it defines how, in which form and where the languages of national/ethnic minorities
could be used) http://www.diversity.ge/files/files/oslo-geo.pdf.
360
The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in
Public Life & Explanatory Note, September 1999.
http://www.diversity.ge/files/files/lund-geo.pdf
361
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=157&CM=8&DF=
12/15/2008&CL=ENG
307