Dwustronne porozumienia o prawach mniejszości jako nowa jakość ochrony mniejszości w Europie na przełomie XX i XXI wieku

After 1945 there were concluded over 100 two-sided agreements, which contained so called minority clauses, which means regulations referring to the rights of ethnic minorities. Moreover, the countries concluded 13 different two-sided agreements about the status of ethnic minorities. In minority clauses mainly the language and religion rights were regulated, whereas the content of specially concluded agreements concerning the protection of minorities was much more extended. The agreements referred to the accepted international agreements about human rights in UN, Council of Europe or OSCE system. Generally all of them protect language rights of minorities, including the right to learn the native language and in the native language, use native language in private and public life and write names and surnames in it and partially the right to use it in local governments, courts and other public places and also use geographic names in native language in the areas, that had been previously inhabited by this minority. The concluded agreements supplemented the accepted international obligations and in the same time strengthened the protection of internal law, becoming the impulse to find new solutions.