Overview: Development of minority rights in international law

The first significant attempt to identify internationally recognized minority rights was through a number of “minority treaties” adopted under the auspices of the League of Nations. With the creation of the United Nations, attention initially shifted to universal human rights and decolonization. However, the United Nations has gradually developed a number of norms, procedures and mechanisms concerned with minority issues, and the 1992 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities is the fundamental instrument that guides the activities of the United Nations in this field today.

Related Subject(s): Human Rights and Refugees