The Right to Participation

The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life from 1999 distinguish between two dimensions of participation. Firstly, participation can mean participation in decision-making in the state as a whole and secondly, it can mean self-governance over certain internal affairs. Participation in the first sense is a broad term concerned with representation not only in parhament or the government but also in the civil service and the judiciary. Participation in the second sense is what commonly is simply referred to as autonomy. 

Participation of minorities can take many shapes. Consultation and the maintenance of a dialogue between authorities and minorities are stressed by the Advisory Conunittee and the Committee of Ministers within the monitoring mechanism of the Framework Convention. The Lund Recommendations provide a list of 

15 Bxplanatray Report to the Framework Convention for the Protectirai of National Minorities (1995) As published in Framework Convraition fin the Protection of Natiraial Minorities - Collected Texts, 4th ed., Council of Europe, 2007, pp. 17-35, Strasbourg. 

See at I. 2) High Cranmissioner on National MuMHities (1999) Lund Recommendations rai the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public life Explanatray Note http //www.osce. org/documaits/hcnm/1999/09/2929 en.pdf. Accessed 29 May 2010. 

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The client may want to reserve the right to participate in investigations of incidents or releases resulting from production, packaging. 

Baxter 1988, p. 104, quoted in Watkin 2005, p. 4 n 7 [where it is noted the term combatant was not a technical treaty term and had been used in a general sense to describe any member of the fighting armed forces, (other than medical personnel and chaplains and service and support personnel), or any civilian who engages in combat ]. However, see now, AP 1, Article 43 [ Members of the armed forces of a Party to a conflict (other than medical personnel and chaplains...) are combatants, that is to say, they have the right to participate directly in hostilities. Unlike the historical approach, under this definition combat service support and combat support personnel would be included as combatants]. 

OSHA encourages employers to take advantage of the opportunity to have an informal conference if they foresee any diflSculties in complying with any part of the citation. Employee representative(s) have the right to participate in any informal conference or negotiations between the OSHA Regional Administrator or Area Director and the employer. 

The right to participate at any hearing before the OSHA Review Commission or at any informal meeting with OSHA when the employer or a worker has contested the abatement date... 

The requesting State Party and the inspected State Party shall have the right to participate in the review process. The Executive Council shall inform the States Parties and the next session of the Conference of the outcome of the process. 

Each State Party undertakes to facilitate, and shall have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, material and scientific and technological information concerning means of protection against chemical weapons. 

The First Review Conference reaffirmed the commitment of the States Parties to fully implement the provisions of the Convention on economic and technological development. It reaffirmed that the States Parties have the obligation to undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of chemicals, equipment, and technical information relating to the development and application of chemistry for purposes not prohibited by the Convention. The First Review Conference stressed that the international cooperation programmes of the OPCW should also make a contribution to the development of States Parties capacities required to implement the Convention. 

The right to participation. Participating in decision-making is extremely important. Participation can take many shapes. It includes anything from being heard to a possible veto on issues directly concerning issues of relevance to a minority. Participation in usually understood in the political context however, it also stretches to other fields such as culture. Participation is also well founded on the focus instruments. ... 

The cross-frontier contacts right addresses the individual nevertheless the contacts can have consequences for the minorities as a whole. The right to participate in non-govemmental organizations both on the national and international level... 

Determinacy The right to participation in the UN Minority Declaration lacks somewhat in determinacy. Nevertheless, the overall message of the right is clear. We know who it is available to and in what fields. Participation is clear in general however, it is qualified by the little word effectively . It is within this word where indeterminacy is found. Whether something is done effectively or not depends on many variables and synonyms for effective are efficacious, efficient, potent and productive. My understanding of effective is producing a decided or desired effect. If a process reaches the desired effect, the process is effective. 

National Minorities. At the UN level, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues equally has taken up the issue of participation in a minority context. The amount of international documents on political participation mirrors the importance it has in the field of minority rights. The documents mentioned here are not legally binding and I do not propose they should be regarded as such. Nevertheless, they provide a substantial sub-framework for the right to participation. 

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