June 2006
Vol. 15, No. 1
THE LAW ON THE STATUS OF NATIONAL MINORITIES IN ROMANIA
By Katalin Vinkler
Graduate of Babes-Bolyai University, Law School, Kolozsvár, Romania,
Hungarian American Coalition Congressional Intern 2006
A Short Overview of the Legal Framework of
Minority Issues in Romania in the Last Decade
With the overthrow of Romania’s Communist
dictatorial regime in 1989, the 1.7-million strong
Hungarian minority expressed its aspirations for
the restoration of democratic minority rights. Their
newly formed political party, the Democratic
Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR),
remains the most significant political voice of the
Hungarian minority.
In December 19911 the new Constitution was
approved by referendum and declares that
‘Romania is a sovereign, independent, unitary and
indivisible National state’, and that the State
recognizes and guarantees the right of persons
belonging to national minorities, to the
preservation, development and expression of their
ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity.
(Continues on Page 2)
Dear Reader:
Given the importance of the Law on the Status of National Minorities for all minorities in Romania, we are
publishing this article to give you the background and current status of the law, which to date, has not been
passed by the Romanian parliament. As most readers know, arbitrary changes to the political map of Eastern
Europe at the end of World War I created the state that we now know as Romania, which is home to almost 2
million ethnic Hungarians. Due to their minority status, these ethnically Hungarian Romanian citizens were
subjected to 75 years of oppression and persecution by a series of Romanian Communist regimes. After the fall
of Communism in December 1989, ethnic Hungarians in Romania were afforded greater rights, although the
process remains incomplete.
Although the Romanian parliament has passed a number of laws on minority rights since 1990, including
legislation on education and public administration, these laws have failed to address the full range of issues
facing Romania’s minorities. Furthermore, even where they have been implemented, the laws are insufficient for
the preservation and promotion of minority linguistic and cultural identities, and have failed to support the
legitimate aspirations of the minority to restore Hungarian educational institutions which were forcibly closed
down under Communism.
At present, the political representatives of the Hungarian minority are engaged in passing the Law on the Status
of National Minorities. The proposed statute’s most significant provision concerns “cultural autonomy,” which
enables the minority to shape and implement important cultural/linguistic policies and institutions which concern
them. Cultural autonomy as defined in the draft statute is a practicable legal framework that has multiple
precedents in modern-day Europe and has been examined and found satisfactory by several EU bodies. There is
nothing radical or secessionist about the Statute, which does not affect the political structure or Constitutional
framework of the Romanian state. It is time to pass this important legislation and move forward to implement,
this much needed legal framework.
Maximilian Teleki
President, Hungarian American Coalition
The Law on Public Administration2, also
passed in 1991, included only two provisions
regarding minority languages. Article 30
stipulated that decisions of the local Council are
to be made public in the minority languages in the
administrative-territorial
units
where
the
community has a significant number of persons
belonging to national minorities. Article 54
allows minority persons to use their mother
tongue, written or orally, in communications with
public administration authorities under the
condition that a Romanian translation of the
documents is attached or that the minority person
employs the services of a translator.
In 1993, the Council for National
Minorities was established including members/
representatives of national minorities and civil
servants from ministries.
Unfortunately as a consultative body, its
activity can be described as almost insignificant.
Following that, Romania became a member
of the Council of Europe on October 7, 1993,
signed the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities3 on February 1,
1995 and ratified it on May 11, 1995.
The Law on Education adopted in July 1995
had several restrictive provisions as regards
minority rights that were eliminated few years
later. Although a whole chapter (Chapter XII)
focused on the “Education for persons belonging
to national minorities”, the Law does not extend
to the possibility of establishing a State-financed
University with Hungarian language instruction.
The largest Hungarian communities beyond the borders of Hungary (around 1990)
Maps based on Károly Kocsis and Eszter Kocsis-Hodosi’s
“Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin”
2 – June 2006 – Hungarian American Coalition
The Europe Agreement4, establishing an
association between the European Economic
Communities and their future Member States,
stressed the ‘need to continue and complete, with
the assistance of the Community, Romania’s
transition towards a new political and economic
system which respects the rule of law and human
rights, including the rights of persons belonging to
minorities’.
As a result of the parliamentary elections in
November 1996, the DAHR joined the new
governmental coalition, and for the first time in
the Romanian history, the Government included
ministers from a party representing the interests of
the Hungarian minority. Romania was also the
first country in Central and Eastern Europe to
adopt
a
Law
on
Anti-discrimination,
Furthermore, the Institution of Ombudsman5
was established and Laws on Public
Administration and Education6 were amended
in order to provide linguistic rights for minorities.
After the elections in 2000, the DAHR made a
political alliance with the party in power, the
Social Democratic Party (PSD). Although the
DAHR did not appoint any ministers to the
cabinet, they helped ensure a stable government
through the ‘Agreement on co-operation between
the Social Democratic Party and the DAHR in
2002’, which stipulated that ‘the two political
parties shall continue to grant priority to the
protection of national minorities, institutional and
legislative development of their issues.’7
During this cabinet’s mandate, the new Law
on Public Administration8 was adopted which
provides for the use of minority languages in
administrative-territorial units where a minority
represents at least 20% of the population. In
addition, the National Council against
Discrimination, a specialized body for
implementation of the equality principle and
enforcement of non-discrimination legislation, was
established in 2001.
New provisions regarding linguistic rights
were included in 2002 in the new Law regarding
the Status of Policepersons9 and the new Law on
Media10. In October 2003, the Romanian
Constitution amendments stated that the use of
native language, both in relations with public
administration and in the Courts, became
constitutional principles under the terms stipulated
by organic law. Article 73, paragraph 3, p.r of the
new Constitution ruled that the Parliament passes
organic laws including the law on the status of
national minorities. (There are three types of
Romanian law: Constitutional, Ordinary, and
Organic. An organic law regulates on specific
issues according to the Romanian Constitution).
The Romanian Government’s Agenda for 2004200811
Since the November 2004 elections, the
Romanian parliament is divided between the
center-right DA (PNL-PD) Alliance and the PSD,
each of which hold between 30-40% of the seats in
each chamber. The DA Alliance, however, forged
a parliamentary majority with the support of the
PC, the DAHR, and (in the lower house) the other
ethnic minority party representatives.
The new Romanian Government, in its
Governmental Program for 2004-2008, stated
among its main objectives to carry out a policy
that enables preservation, affirmation and
development of ethnic, cultural, religious and
linguistic identity of minorities. The new
governmental coalition, formed by the PNL, PD,
DAHR and PC in November 2004 also agreed to
initiate the following laws:

The Law on the Status of National
Minorities in Romania;

A suitable juridical framework on the
organization and function of the
institutional system of national minorities
according to Article 73, paragraph 3 of the
Constitution, enabling the representatives
of national minorities to set up and lead
cultural and educational institutions in their
native language for the purpose of creating
the legal framework of the cultural
autonomy
Hungarian American Coalition – June 2006 – 3

The Law for the ratification of the
European Chart of regional and minority
languages
Draft Law on the Status of National Minorities
in Romania (Written by the DAHR)
Prior to 2005, several versions of the law on
the status of national minorities prepared by
different minority groups did not receive sufficient
political support, and there was little progress in
reconciling the views of various minority
organizations.
Based on consultations with Hungarian
organizations,
public
personalities
from
Transylvania, minority organizations in Romania
and international experts, the DAHR elaborated
the draft law on minorities12 and released it for
debate at the beginning of 2005. This version was
then submitted for opinion to the National
Minority Council and finally to the Romanian
Government on 30 March 2005.
Aside from the provisions of principle, the
law defines those national minorities that can be
regarded as traditional and historical minorities in
Romania due to their long-lasting co-existence
with the Romanian majority. These are defined as
communities which have lived in Romania for at
least a century, have their own national, ethnic,
cultural, linguistic and religious identity and wish
to preserve, express and promote that identity13.
The introduction of the national community
concept constitutes a breakthrough since it is the
first time that the draft declares national minorities
to be state-forming factors.
The draft law also defines the status of the
minority organizations, more in particular, the fact
that a minority organization participates in
political life, local and parliamentary elections
based on specific criteria14.
The most important element of the draft law
on minorities is the establishment of the legal
framework for the practice of cultural autonomy15.
Thus, it not only stipulates that national minority
groups have the right to independent cultural,
4 – June 2006 – Hungarian American Coalition
education and media institutions, but also specifies
how the community can decide on the supervision
and functioning of these institutions. These
administrative bodies would be elected internally
and they would be invested with the appropriate
authority by government resolution. The
establishment of cultural autonomy does not
differentiate between political, civil or church
institutions.
Cultural autonomy is a means by which the
state gives power over personal rights such as
religion, language or culture to a group within the
state. Cultural autonomy allows for selfgovernment in cultural and educational matters.
Minority community members are able to study in
their native language and to influence the central
and local decision-making bodies in matters
concerning their cultural needs. For this purpose,
the minority community is represented in the
central and local governments but does not have
self-government (or general autonomy) in political
and economic matters. However, regarding
cultural issues, the minority institution’s authority
is independent of the central government.
Furthermore, cultural autonomy is not secession
from the state, nor does it mean regional
autonomy.
The Council of Cultural Autonomy would be
established according to the principle of equal
representation in the civic sphere for church and
community organizations through internal
elections16. The establishment of cultural
autonomy does not exclude the establishment of
other forms of autonomy in any political or legal
way.
The Venice Commission’s Opinion on the Draft
Law on the Statute of National Minorities
Living in Romania17
The Venice Commission, or the European
Commission for Democracy through Law, is an
advisory board to the Council of Europe which
deals mainly with constitutional matters, and is
affiliated with an internationally recognized
independent think-tank.
Percentage of the Hungarian minorities in the Carpathian Basin (around 1990)
In June 2005, the Romanian authorities
requested the Venice Commission, dedicated to
monitoring minority issues, to provide its expertise
on the Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities Living in Romania.
Mr. Sergio Bartolle and Mr. Pieter van Dijk
were appointed to coordinate efforts with official
Romanian representatives in issuing the report.
The Commission is of the opinion that most
of the objective elements included in Article 3,
paragraph 1, namely that numerical inferiority and
culturally or ethnically specific characteristics “do
not raise any problem” but they are not required
by international standards.
A definition of minorities accepted by the
international community states: ‘a minority is a
group numerically inferior to the rest of the
population, in a non-dominant position, including
nationals of the state, possessing distinct ethnic,
religious or linguistic characteristics and showing
a sense of solidarity aimed to preserve those
characteristics’18 (Francesco Capotorti (UN
Special Rapporteur).
The Commission concluded that the draft law
contains provisions, which, in principle, constitute
a satisfactory framework for the protection of
minority rights in Romania19. However, the draft
law includes certain limitations and several
uncertainties as to its meaning and scope.
The members of the Commission recommend
addressing these shortcomings in order to make
the draft easier to implement. In addition, in order
to better comply with the freedom of association
Hungarian American Coalition – June 2006 – 5
stipulated in the Romanian Constitution, the
conditions for the registration of so-called
‘organizations of citizens belonging to national
minorities’ should be eased20.
The Positions of Major Romanian Political
Parties
The National Liberal Party (PNL) expressed
its support for the adoption of the Law and called
the major coalition partner to follow its position
within the DA Alliance in accordance with the
provisions of the Governmental Program for 20042008.
Mr. Emil Boc, head of the Democratic Party
(PD), which supports President Traian Basescu,
stated recently that it is expected that DAHR will
use any and all political weapons to successfully
pass the Law on the Status of Minority Rights on
the eve of EU accession.
The major problem in his party’s view is that
the legal framework of the Draft law involves the
issue of positive discrimination, which is
unacceptable for a future EU country.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD),
qualified the draft law as „unacceptable due to
provisions on cultural autonomy” and threatened
action against it at the Constitutional Court. The
head of the Party, Mr. Geoana, accused leading
Romanian political parties of irresponsibility as
the Draft Law passed the Romanian government
prior to the parliamentary debate, alleging that the
DAHR used the opportunity of internal coalition
conflicts within the DA Alliance to move forward
on this issue.
Possible Scenarios /Conclusion
The Law on the Status of Minorities was
rejected by the Romanian Senate – an indication
of the lack of sufficient political support for the
draft Law. Subsequently, the coalition partners of
6 – June 2006 – Hungarian American Coalition
DAHR again agreed to support the draft Law in
the Lower House of Parliament. The Draft Law is
being debated by the Commissions of the
Chamber of Deputies (Legal Commission,
Commission for the Human Rights and the
Commission for Education). DAHR Coalition
partners are currently using various legal
instruments to propose a large number of
amendments to the project in an attempt to
postpone the final vote on the Draft Law. The
Commissions may prolong debate on the draft
law, in which case the DAHR will request a
plenary debate for the final vote without the
adoption of the Commission’s final report on the
draft law.
It should be also emphasized that the
European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance21, established by the member States of
the Council of Europe to combat racism,
xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Intolerance,
recently published a report recommending that the
Romanian authorities adopt the draft law on the
status of national minorities without delay. It
urged them to amend any provisions of this law
that might infringe upon the rights of national
minorities to choose their political representatives
at the local level.
In the preliminary assessment made public on
April 3, 2006, The Honorable Olli Rehn,
Commissioner for Enlargement, declared in
regards to the minorities that “Romania needs to
speed up efforts”.
Adoption of the draft law on the status of
national minorities would be the first instance of
comprehensive protection of minority rights in the
modern Romanian legal establishment and the first
example of true cultural autonomy in the former
Communist bloc. By safeguarding the future of
ethnic minorities in Romania, this law will bring
about a fundamental transformation of Romania’s
multicultural society.
* *** *
Newsletter Editor: János Szekeres, Graphic Designer: Ajna Pfenninberger.
We are grateful to all those who contributed articles or information to this
Newsletter. “Nothing printed here is to be construed as an attempt to aid or
hinder the passage of any legislation before the Congress of the United States.”
Footnotes:
20
1
21
The Constitution of Romania adopted by the Constituent
Assembly on November, 21 1991.Published in the Official
Journal of Romania, Part I, No.233 on November, 21 1991,
approved national referendum on December, 8 1991
2
Article 80, Opinion on the Draft Law on the Statute of
National Minorities living in Romania
Council of Europe, Third report on Romania, adopted on
24 June 2005 made public on 21 February 2006
Law No.69/ 1991 on Public Administration
3
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html
/157.htm (February, 20 2006)
4
Europe Agreement establishing an association between the
European Economic Communities and their Member States,
of the one part, and Romania, of the other part, Official
Journal L 357, 31/12/1994 P. 0002 - 0189
5
Law No.35/1997 on the Organization and Functioning the
Institution of the Advocate of People
Bibliography
The Constitution of Romania adopted by the Constituent
Assembly on November, 21 1991.Published in the
Official Journal of Romania, Part I, No.233 on
November, 21 1991, approved national referendum on
December, 8 1991
Law No.69/ 1991 on Public Administration
6
Government Ordinance No. 137/2000 on Preventing and
Punishing All Forms of Discrimination
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.ht
m
Point 8 of the ‘Agreement on co-operation between the
Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance of
Hungarians in Romania in 2002’
Europe Agreement establishing an association between
the European Economic Communities and their Member
States, of the one part, and Romania, of the other part,
Official Journal L 357 , 31/12/1994 P. 0002 – 0189
7
8
Law No.215/ 2001 on Public Administration
9
Law No. 360/2002 on the Status of Policepersons
10
Law No.504/2002 on Media
11
Chapter 25 on Policies within the field of interethnic
relations, The Romanian Government’s Program for 20052008
12
http://www.dri.gov.ro/index.html?page=legislation
(February, 27 2006) Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities Living in Romania, Legislative projects,
Department for Interethnic Relations, Government of
Romania
Law No.35/1997 on the Institution of the Advocate of
People
Government Ordinance No. 137/2000 on Preventing and
Punishing All Forms of Discrimination
‘Agreement on co-operation between the Social
Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance of
Hungarians in Romania in 2002’
Law No.215/ 2001 on Public Administration
Law No. 360/2002 on the Status of Policepersons
13
Law No.504/2002 on Audiovisual
14
Policies within the field of interethnic relations, The
Romanian Government’s Program for 2005-2008
Article 3, Draft Law on the Statute of National Minorities
Living in Romania
Article 48, p.a , Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities Living in Romania
15
Chapter 5, Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities Living in Romania
16
Article 58, paragraph 1, Draft Law on the Statute of
National Minorities Living in Romania
17
Opinion on the Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities living in Romania, adopted by the Venice
Commission at its 64th Plenary Session, (Venice, October,
21-22 2005)
http://www.dri.gov.ro/index.html?page=legislation
(February, 27 2006), Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities Living in Romania, Legislative projects,
Department for Interethnic Relations, Government of
Romania
Opinion on the Draft Law on the Statute of National
Minorities living in Romania, adopted by the Venice
Commission at its 64th Plenary Session, (Venice,
October, 21-22 2005)
18
Capotorti, F. (1977), Study on the Rights of Persons
Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities,
UN Document, E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Add.1-7
19
Council of Europe, Third report on Romania, adopted on
24 June 2005 made public on 21 February 2006
Capotorti, F. (1977) , Study on the Rights of Persons
Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities,
UN Document, E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Add.1-7
Article 76, Opinion on the Draft Law on the Statute of
National Minorities living in Romania
Hungarian American Coalition – June 2006 – 7
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