freedom of identity, right to identity
According to the universal concept of law of the modern age the right to freedom of identity is a human right that a natural person has from birth, whether or not it is constitutionally protected. This right not only includes the right to publicly assume one’s identity or certain elements of one’s identity but also the right not to be obliged to openly assume one’s identity or certain elements of one’s identity in order to be an equal member of society.
With regard to the right to freedom of identity (choice of identity) it can be concluded that the Hungarian state is not only home to the thirteen ethnic minority communities as defined in the Act on National Minorities which was based on the Constitution, now is on the Fundamental Law, but also to a number of other communities organized on the basis of ethnicity. These are communities of different sizes, with different levels of organisation, which are useful and value-creating parts of society.
On the basis of historical antecedents, cultural traditions, social involvement, geopolitical conditions and many other aspects Hungarian legislators decided in the early 1990s to grant thirteen of the communities with different nationality identities special rights and budgetary resources to live and develop their identity within the framework of the Act on National Minorities and the elevation of them to state-constituent factors.
The establishment of self-governments of national minorities in Hungary is based on the data of the decennial census therefore the number of people with national minority ties who assume their identity is crucial for the sustainability of national minority cultural autonomy.