Book Review: Henrard, Kristin, Devising an Adequate System of Minority Protection

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Subject: Book Review: Henrard, Kristin, Devising an Adequate System of Minority Protection

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Book Review: Henrard, Kristin, Devising an Adequate System of
Minority Protection


Henrard, Kristin, Devising an Adequate System of Minority Protection.
Individual Human Rights, Minority Rights, and the Right to
Self-Determination. (The Hague, Boston, London: Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers, 2000); ISBN 90-411-1359-2
 
Reviewed by Stefan Wolff, University of Bath, [email protected]
 
Should I ever be charged with devising a system of minority protection
on a remote island and be simultaneously constrained by airline
baggage allowances, Henrards book would certainly be among the
essentials I would take along  for what she provides is one of the
most comprehensive treatments of minority protection from a legal
perspective that I know of.
 
The book is divided into four chapters, preceded by a short
introduction and followed by an even shorter conclusion. What I found
particularly reader-friendly is the fact that Henrard spared me from
yet another extensive discussion of historic developments of minority
protection, but provides instead a five-page summary of the most
important developments with rather extensive footnotes referencing the
key works that can be consulted for further reading. Equally brief but
nonetheless informative is the discussion of the more fundamental
issue of what exactly a minority is. From the outset, Henrard
acknowledges that there is no universally agreed definition. She
examines the most influential definitions thus far Capotorti and
Deschnes at the UN level (pp. 21-24), and various proposals at the
European level (pp. 25-30)  and derives from them a list of components
that a majority of these definitions include. These components
(different ethnic, linguistic, or religious characteristics; numerical
position; non-dominant position; nationality requirement; subjective
component; official recognition; loyalty requirement) are then
individually assessed in their importance and a working definition is
provided (p. 48). After elaborating on the use of qualifying terms,
such as ethnic, racial, religious, linguistic, and national, Henrard
provides her own definition which is, unsurprisingly, similar to those
previously examined, but omits both the nationality (citizenship) and
loyalty requirements that can be found elsewhere.
 
Following this groundwork, chapters II to IV respectively cover the
contribution of individual human rights, minority rights, and the
right to self-determination to an adequate system of minority
protection. The extensive discussion and analysis of the relevant
international documents (at UN, OSCE, and European level) in each of
the chapters is substantiated by an examination of court cases,
primarily in relation to Article 27 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. Yet, Henrard doesnt stop at the level of
analysing legal documents but goes further and elaborates on current
debates among legal experts on such crucial issues as special rights
(pp. 218-233) and group rights (pp. 233-243) and relates them to those
aspects of minorities identities that are often the focal point of
their [i.e., minorities  S.W.] more concrete demands (p. 244), such as
language, religion, culture/ethnicity, education, media, and political
participation.
 
A similarly enlightening analysis of the more fundamental issues that
have informed the legal as well as the political discourse on minority
protection is conducted in relation to the right to
self-determination. A brief discussion of the internal and external
dimensions of self-determination (pp. 296-306) is then followed by a
more detailed examination of federalism (pp. 308-311), autonomy (pp.
311-313), and power-sharing (pp. 313-314) as forms in which the
internal dimension of the right to self-determination can be realised.
 
Finally, Henrard looks into the relationship between minority rights
and the right to self-determination (pp. 314-316) and between the
latter and individual human rights (pp. 316-319). Acknowledging that
the issue of secession has coloured this debate [on the right to
self-determination] in the most negative way (p. 314), she recognises
that minority rights are not always sufficient in their contribution
towards an optimal protection and promotion of the minorities right to
identity (p. 316). This leads her to conclude that there is an
intrinsic connection between minority rights and an internal right to
self-determination (p. 316), while she considers the right to
self-determination a human right itself and a necessary condition for
the exercise of all other individual human rights (pp. 316-317).
 
Thus, Henrards book is an invaluable resource guide for anyone
interested in the protection of minorities, be it from an academic or
a practical perspective. At the same time, she also delivers a clear
argument in support of the use of the whole range of legal instruments
available for the protection of minorities, or, as Henrard herself
would phrase it, for the accommodation of population diversity. This
argument culminates in her assertion that it seems justified to
conclude that individual human rights, minority rights, and a right to
(internal) self-determination are all three needed and interrelate for
the elaboration of an adequate system of minority protection (p. 321).
 
The only slight disappointment with the book is the fact that,
especially given its rather exorbitant price, more care could have
been invested in the copy-editing process. Spelling and punctuation
mistakes are quite frequent, and given that Henrard herself is not a
native speaker of English, responsibility for these shortcomings lies
with the publisher alone. In any revised edition, which in some years
from now may be necessary as international and national law systems
will evolve, these issues should be addressed. On the other hand, the
book is presented in a solid and apparently durable hardback edition
which will guarantee it a sufficiently long physical life in libraries
where it is sure to be consulted frequently for its thematic
comprehensiveness, intellectual rigour of analysis, and clarity of
argument. What is more, especially for the non-lawyer, neither
Henrards argument nor the book as a whole are overly technical in
their vocabulary, and thus allow political scientists, sociologists,
and others working in the field easy access to the legal discourse on
minority protection. This, too, should ensure the wide and positive
reception this book deserves.

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