Ar valstybės nustatomos privilegijos tautinėms mažumoms, nepažeidžia kitų piliečių lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principo?
Žilinskaitė, Indrė |
Magistro baigiamąjame darbe nagrinėjama tautinių mažumų teisių apsaugos problema daugumos asmenų atžvilgiu švietimo, valstybės tarnybos srityje, remiantis lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principų analize. Valstybė siekdama užtikrinti tautinių mažumų teisių puoselėjimą, nustato ypatingą teisinę apsaugą, suteikdama specialias teises, kurių kiti visuomenės nariai neturi. Tyrimo tikslas - nustatyti tautinių mažumų teisinę padėtį visuomenėje, atskleidžiant pozityviosios diskriminacijos turinį ir jos taikymo ribas tautinių mažumų apsaugos srityje bei įvertinti аr toks pozityvus diskriminavimas tautinėms mažumoms gali būti pаteisinаmаs daugumos аsmenų atžvilgiu. Tyrimo problemą atskleidžia aprašomasis, analizės, sisteminis bei lyginamasis metodai. Hipotezė: nustatomos privilegijos tautinėms mažumoms nėra laikytinos kitų asmenų lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principų pažeidimu. Pirmoje darbo dalyje nagrinėjama tautinių mažumų samprata, atsklеidžianti tautinių mažumų apibrėžimo istorinę rаidą. Taip pat apžvelgiama tautines mažumas charakterizuojančių požymių analizė, paremta objektyviais ir subjektyviais kriterijais. Antroje dalyje išsamiai analizuojamas tautinių mažumų teisių reglamentavimas teisės šaltiniuose, išskiriant tautinių mažumų teisių reguliavimą Jungtinių Tautų dokumentuose, Europos Sąjungos bei Lietuvos Respublikos teisės aktų nuostatose. Trečioje darbo dalyje tautinių mažumų teisių apsauga analizuojama lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principais. Nagrinėjant tautinių mažumų statusą nediskriminavimo principo kontekste ypatingą reikšmė suteikiama tiesioginei ir netiesioginei diskriminacijai bei pozityviosios diskriminacijos teisinei sričiai. Ketvirtoje dalyje atskleidžiama tautinių mažumų apsaugos norminė bazė švietimo ir teisės į religiją valstybės tarnybos srityse. Vadovaujantis Lietuvos Respublikos bei užsienio teismų praktika analizuojami tautinių mažumų teisių apsaugos probleminiai aspektai. Taigi, ši analizė atskleidžia, kad magistriniame darbe iškelta hipotezė yra klaidinga. Nustatomos privilegijos tautinėms yra laikytinos kitų asmenų lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principų pažeidimu švietimo ir valstybės tarnybos srityse. Pažymima, kad nepagrįstai nustatytos skirtingos valstybinio lietuvių kalbos egzamino sąlygos lietuvių moksleiviams pripažįstamos lygiateisiškumo ir nediskriminavimo principo pažeidimu, kadangi pirmenybė į valstybės finansuojamas studijų vietas suteikiama tiems mokiniams, kurių brandos еgzaminai išlaikyti aukštеsniais įvеrtinimo balais. Be to, religinių simbolių naudоjimas valstybės tarnybos srityje taip pat yra pripažįstamas kaip diskriminacija daugumos asmenų atžvilgiu.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the legal protection of ethnic minority rights to other nationals‘of the principles of equity and non-discrimination in the fields of education and State Service. The protection of the rights of the persons belonging to ethnic minorities is a part of general International Human Rights Law. Furthermore, protection of said minorities rights is recognized as a special legal problem. Therefore the States, seeking to enable certain rights exclusively for ethnic minorities, legislate laws that are considered highly privilegious for the said groups only, excluding other groups (ethnic majority). What should also be mentioned is the discretion each of the States hold in terms of describing what exactly could be considered an „ethnic minority“. It is noteworthy, that one of the objectives for each democratic societies, is the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Therefore, the major objective of this study is to determine and analyze the situation of persons belonging to ethnic minorities in society and evaluate the legitimacy of positive discrimination in the view and opinion of the majority. Main methods of analysis in this thesis shall include: historical, systemic, analytical and comparative methods of analysis. Hypothesis, raised prior to this research: rights and privileges, exclusively granted for ethnic minorities, are not recognized as abuse of the principles of equality and non-discrimination against the majority of citizens. The thesis is composed of four chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of positive discrimination and its legitimacy in modern society. Firstly, reviewing the historical concept of positive discrimination and its evolution, during which it was found, that there is no single unified and general definition of what exactly are ethnic groups. Although, during analysis it was found, that there are certain objective and subjective criteria, who characterise the status and value (and overall general concept) of ethnic groups. Obective criteria mainly includes: customs, language, ethnic origins, traditions, culture. Ethnic groups that could be prescribed under objective criteria include: minority groups, that are living in a State without having its citizenship and not recognizing themselves as the dominating majority in the said State. Subjective criteria mainly includes: the ethnic groups‘ main values and identity, while holding into their objective criteria (own language, customs, etc.). Secondly, the thesis shall include a thorough analysis of ethnic minority rights in certain legal acts, such as: United Nations, European Union and Republic of Lithuania legislations. The main attention should be paid to the legal acts of the United Nations, which ethnic minority rights keep in a general human rights protection under international law. For example: the United Nations Charter, which was adopted in 1945, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and etc. At the European Union legislation level includes: the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of 1995, also Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC and Framework Directive 2000/78/EC and so on. Another part of legals acts, which pay attention to the protection of ethnic minority rights - the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and other acts. The third part of this thesis focuses on the protection of the rights of ethnic minority groups, in the context of constitutional principles of equality and non-discrimination. It is established, that non-discrimination originates from the aforementioned principle of equality. In addition, while researching the status of ethnic minorities in the context of non-discrimination, one of the most important roles befall direct, indirect and positive discrimination and the legal meaning behind said doctrines. Lastly, the fourth part of this thesis shall reveal the people's, who belong to certain groups of ethnic minorities, current rights and privileges in education and religion (in terms of State service) by analyzing most up-to-date Lithuanian and foreign court practice, regarding the protection of the rights of said minority groups. In conclusion, the research demonstrated that the hypothesis, raised prior to the research, was wrong. Indeed, certain government-established measures, that favor ethnic minorities by introducing exclusive rights and privileges only for said groups, abuse the principles of equality and non-discrimination in the context of State service and education. Such practice proves to negatively impact the majority of the population and therefore - abuses the aforementioned principles of equality and non-discrimination. In terms of education, the State national language examination and different unfair conditions set therein for national students, indeed abuses and breaches the principles of equality and non-discrimination (since the priority for State funded higher education programs is reserved only for the students with the highest academic results). While ethnic minority students, who would be able to pass said examinations under different (easier and more privilegious) conditions, would demonstrate a clear unfair advantage against national (ethnic majority) students, who are also competing for the same State funded programs. It is widely acknowledged, that the implemented privileges (for ethnic minorities) must be justified, proportional and mainly used for the integration (of ethnic minority students) with the majority of national students. In terms of wearing any religious icons or symbols in State service, the researched cincluded that it is also recognized as discrimination, since it does not satisfy the equality and non-discrimination principles, in respect of the majority of nationals.