The minorities and their right to practice and profess their own religion

• Author: Tudor Tanasescu
• Position: Associate Professor, Doctor?s Degree, 'Bioterra' University, Bucharest - Law Faculty
• Pages: 91-95

THE MINORITIES AND THEIR RIGHT TO PRACTICE AND

PROFESS THEIR OWN RELIGION

Tudor Tănăsescu

∗

∗∗

∗

Abstract

The Constitution is based on the fundamental principles of liberty and autonomy of

the cults, as well as those regarding the law of discrimination and the equality of all the

citizens of state in practicing the fundamental rights and liberties of the human being.

One of the main elements of the legislation in force is that of the entire equality of 18

religious cult wi

t

ch function in Romania, there aren’t minority churches discriminated

ascending to the number of believes or to their ethnic or confessional affiliation.

Key words: minorities, religion, rights, believe affiliation.

Introduction

In the work “Droit des minorities” published by O.N.U. in 1982, it’s presented that

by minorities generally speaking, one care understands: “a national ethnic, religious or

linguistic group different from other groups inside a sovereign state

.

”

1

It also presents the

following criteria for establishing the minorities:

a) The minority must be inferior in number comparison with the rest of the population of

the State in which it lives;

b) The minority group must be prevalent in that State, to be protected;

c) The minority is distinguished by features which are not common in those of the

majority of the population of the respective country.

At the same time, the m embers of the minority group must be citizens of the State in

which they live.

The right at faith or religions conviction for the minorities is stipulated express in the

27 article of the `` International Agreement regarding civil and political rights``.

2

It stipulates that ‘’in the States in which there are ethnic, religious, linguistic

minorities, the people bellowing to these minorities can’t be deprived of the right to have, in

common with the others members of the group their own life, to profess and practice their

own religion or to use their own language’’.

Out of this stipulation of the agreement it results first of all, that in his conception the

individual who belongs to a minority of a state it the beneficiary of some right for the

minorities among which the right to profess and practice his own religion, rights he can share

with the other members of the minority group. (so, it isn`t about the recognition of some

collective right for the minorities).

Subsequently the right to profess and practice their own religion in confirmed by the

international documents regarding the rights of the people bellowing to minorities and the

identity protection of them.

So `` The document of the Reunion of Copenhagen of the Conference of the human

Dimension of C.S.C.E. in 1990

3

, establishes the recognition and protection of religious

∗

Associate Professor, Doctor’s Degree, “Bioterra” University, Bucharest – Law Faculty

1

See Niciu I, Martian- Public International law, Servosat Publishi ng House Arad, 1997, p. 175.

2

Adopted at the O.N.U. General Assambly in 16

th

December 1996 – by 2200A(XXI) Resolution.The Agreement

was ratified by Romania in the Decree nr. 212 in 31

st

October - 1974 – Official Gazette nr 164/1974.