participation of national minorities in public life
The (effective) participation of national minorities in public affairs is mentioned and referred to in several international documents. These include Article 35 of the document adopted at the 1990 Copenhagen Summit of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Articles 2(2) and 2(3) of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992), Articles 25 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article 15 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995), several documents of the Venice Commission, and the OSCE Lund Recommendations (1999). Article 3 of the First Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights has been the legal basis for the European Court of Human Rights to issue several judgments on the effective participation of national minorities in public life. Article 15 of the Framework Convention requires States Parties to create the conditions for the participation of national minorities in cultural, social and economic life and in public affairs, in particular with regard to public affairs affecting them. In addition to general principles the Lund Recommendations include solutions for participation in decision-making at central, regional and local levels, principles to be followed in the course of elections, the role of advisory and consultative bodies, non-territorial and territorial solutions of self-government, constitutional and legal safeguards and proposals regarding possible legal remedies.