London School of Economic and Political Science Minority Rights Constraints on a State’s Power to Regulate Citizenship under International Law A Thesis submitted by Jungwon Park Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Law University of London December 2006 1 UMI Number: U615744 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615744 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 THeses F. 352k Library British Library of Political and Economic Science ABSTRACT In international law, there is no officially accepted definition of a minority. The traditional view on the definition of a minority requires that in order for persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic groups to receive minority status and enjoy relevant minority rights, they must hold the citizenship of their State of residence. This thesis questions the traditional approach to the concepts of minority and minority rights with special reference to the case of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia. It presents an analysis of the international legal and normative bases for justifying the effective protection of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia as persons belonging to minorities with reference to their citizenship status. It is argued that at least three international legal and normative bases may be invoked for the effective protection of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia. Such legal and normative bases can be found in minorities-specific standards with the focus on the protection of cultural identity for minorities, general human rights standards with an emphasis on substantive equality, and the right to internal self-determination. The linkage of these legal and normative bases to the protection of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia as persons belonging to minorities with reference to citizenship in their States of residence strongly suggests that Estonian and Latvian citizenship laws are problematic from the perspective of minority protection. It also implies that Estonia and Latvia should protect the minority rights of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in an effective manner at the domestic legal level through the implementation of concrete protective measures to that effect, by taking into account their various needs and problems, including the matter of citizenship for the ethnic, linguistic Russian non-citizens and stateless persons. The discussion about the legal and normative bases for the protection of the ethnic, linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia with reference to their citizenship status also indicates that a State’s power to regulate citizenship can be constrained ‘to the extent’ that it is obliged to protect minority rights in an effective manner at the domestic legal level under international law. Key words: Minority, minority rights, minority protection, human rights, citizenship, the non-discrimination principle, internal self-determination 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................................................8 ABBREVIATIONS...............................................................................................................10 TABLE OF CASES.............................................................................................................. 12 NOTE ON THE TEXT........................................................................................................ 15 Chapter I. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 17 1. Background and Main Questions ......................................................................................17 2. Importance of the Research.............................................................................................. 25 3. Conceptual Problems....................................................................................................... 30 3.1. Minority Rights....................................................................................................30 3.2. Complementary Aspect of Individual Rights and Group Rights ..................... 31 4. Methods and Structure ...................................................................................................... 32 Chapter II. Historical and Legal Background to Contemporary Problems of the Ethnic, Linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia ................................................. 35 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................ 35 2. Recent History of Estonia and Latvia.............................................................................. 38 2.1. Russification in Estonia and Latvia....................................................................38 2.2. Regaining Independence and the Issue of Citizenship .......................... 42 3. The Baltic Restrorationism and International Law.........................................................44 3.1. Ex iniuria ius non oritur......................................................................................44 3.2. Inconsistent Practice and Controversial Aspects of the Non-Recognition Policy in the Baltic Case.....................................................................................47 3.3 The Problem of Effective Control.......................................................................50 4. Citizenship in the Baltic States and the Ethnic, Linguistic Russians in Estonia and Latvia .......................................................................................................................... 52 4.1. Estonia...................................................................................................................52 4.2. Latvia.....................................................................................................................53 4.3. Lithuania............................................................................................................... 55 4.4. The Ethnic, Linguistic Russian Non-Citizens and Stateless Persons in Estonia and Latvia.............................................................................................55 5. Conclusions.........................................................................................................................58 3 Chapter III. Nationality in International Law and the Baltic Implications............. 60 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................60 2. Nationality under International Law................................................................................61 2.1. Nationality and the Principle of Genuine and Effective Link ..........................61 2.2. Determining Nationality in the Case of State succession: Theory and Practice........................................................................................... 65 3. The Right to Nationality under International Law..........................................................69 3.1. The Right to Nationality......................................................................................69 3.2. The Duty to Prevent Statelessness under International Law............................74 4. The Right to Nationality as a Part of Customary International Law?...........................77 5. Estonian and Latvian Citizenship Laws and the Problem of the Protection of the Human Rights of the Ethnic, Linguistic Russians.......................................................... 80 5.1. Conformity of the Estonian and Latvian Citizenship Laws with Public International Law on Nationality.................................................................. 80 5.2. The Controversial Aspects of the Estonian and Latvian Citizenship Laws from a Human Rights Perspective...................................................................... 82 6. Conclusions........................................................................................................................86 Chapter IV. The Definitional Question of the Concept of a Minority........................88 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................ 88 2. Traditional Definition of a Minority.................................................................................90 2.1. Objective Elements .............................................................................................. 92 2.1.1. Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Characteristics of the Group 92 2.1.2. Numerical Inferiority.......................................................................