The thesis concerns itself with the fundamental rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic groups in contemporary international law. The rights outlined are to be found in multilateral treaties and general or customary international law. The first right identified is the right to existence which is principally associated with the Genocide Convention 1948. The second right outlined is the right of individuals belonging to minorities to an identity in cultural, religious and linguistic terms. This right is found in treaties rather than general customary law. The principal vehicle for the right to identity is Article 27 of the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The relationship between this right and the right of individuals not to be discriminated against on grounds of race, language or religion is a major focus of the text. The rights of indigenous and tribal populations are also discussed: in addition to being in most cases minorities in their States, these populations have been the subject of specific action mainly in the International Labour Organisation. They are therefore entitled to all the rights of minorities as well as those rights specifically drawn up in their favour. The thesis commences with an outline of the legal and philosophical problems raised by the existence of minorities and indigenous populations and discusses the history of the protection of minority groups by international law, culminating in the League of Nations regime for their protection. A consistent theme running through the work is the relationship between individual and collective rights in international law and the conclusion of the work attempts to characterise international law in this respect, and to forecast the direction which the law will take in the future.

1 Abstract Thesis title: The legal status of minorities in Russia This work is an overview of the legal status of minorities in Russia and their mutual interaction with the dominant nation in individual historical stages. Its subject is to explore changes in the status of minorities in political, cultural, linguistic, religious and fundamental human rights. This is put in the historical context and the influence of the state's minority policy on state integrity is examined, including the assessment of the adequacy of the state-legal arrangement for the needs of national minorities. The space is also devoted to the administrative division of the country, which plays an important role in Russian terms. The pros and cons of period legislation are evaluated. Its impact on the practical life of minorities is illustrated by examples of specific minorities. The work is structured chronologically, presenting the history of Russia primarily in terms of milestones relevant to national minorities. The first part devoted to the Russian Empire monitors its gradual expansion and differences in the legal status of the conquered nations. Approximately from the middle of the 19th century, the Russian legislation has been directed towards unification, resp. Rusification of the whole empire, while the causes and effects of...