Art. 1.

(1) The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities is established as a public institution with juridical personality subordinated to the Government and co-ordinated by the Department for the Protection of National Minorities with its seat in Cluj-Napoca.

(2) The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities is a multidisciplinary research institute.

Art. 2.

(1) The objective of The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities is to ensure for the public institutions, non-governmental organisations and Romanian citizens a better understanding of the problems related to the rights of national minorities, of the way in which the communities of the minorities preserve, develop and express their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity, and of the way in which these rights are guaranteed in other countries.

(2) At the same time, the objective of The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities is to inform the public opinion beyond the frontier about the practical methods for the protection and respect of the rights of national minorities in Romania.

Art. 3.

The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities shall carry out the following tasks: it shall

a) elaborate studies and carry out researches related to the different aspects of preserving, developing and expressing the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of national minorities;

b) organise training programs intended especially for those categories of persons who have special responsibilities related to the protection of national minorities or in becoming acquainted with the issue of national minorities;

c) organise and elaborate a permanent relationship program with governmental and non-governmental institutions from abroad which have as their objective the issue of national minorities.

d) furnish, to request or periodically, information concerning governmental or non-governmental efforts for the promotion and protection of the rights of national minorities in Romania and similar efforts in other countries, as well as the international commitments undertaken by Romania and the way in which they are fulfilled;

e) conduct public opinion polls on different aspects of the protection of national minorities in Romania;

Art. 4.

(1) Other tasks, the organizational and functioning procedure, the organizational structure and the maximum number of the personnel are approved by Governmental decree at the proposition of the Department for the Protection of National Minorities.

(2) The own organizational and functioning rules are approved by the board of the institute.

Art. 5.

A documentation centre, as well as a centre for bibliographical references concerning the rights of national minorities shall function within the framework of The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities. The data of the documentation centre, the studies, researches and all the services provided by the institute are accessible to every visitor.

Art. 6.

(1) The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities may carry out researches on the basis of contracts with other institutions and scientific organizations, as well as with other services from its field of activity, according to the decision of the board of the institute or at the request of specialized organizations from the country and from abroad.

(2) The institute collects fees for its services which are approved by the main allocating organ of budgetary credits.

Art. 7.

(1) The financing of the current and capital expenses of The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities is granted by means of extrabudgetary incomes and allocations from the state budget.

(2) The extrabudgetary incomes consist of sums resulting from the contracts or from providing other services within the sphere of activity of the institution, as well as from donations or sponsorships.

Art. 8.

The Institute for Studying the Problems of National Minorities shall present an annual report concerning its activity to the Department for the Protection of National Minorities.

Source: Unofficial Translation