Principal investigator: Balázs Dobos

Participant: Ágnes Vass

Research period: 2004-2017

External researchers: Andrea Bogdán (2009), Antal Bozóki (2009), István Csernicskó (2009), Magdolna Mohácsek (2009), Kálmán Petőcz (2009), Károly Tóth (2009), Mihály Tóth (2009)

Legal database (in Hungarian)

The research seeks to introduce and analyze the current legal status of the minorities living in eight countries of the Central Europe (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine) as well as the legal frameworks, opportunities and restrictions faced by these minorities. Comparative analysis of their legal status facilitates a better understanding of the minority legal systems and legislation that are determined by the various internal and external factors. It also serves to highlight similarities and differences (including the positive features and deficiencies) of the various regimes and to compare and contrast them with international standards. Comparative research on the legal status of the national and ethnic minorities in Hungary and the neighbouring countries has been undertaken at the Minority Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 2004. Since that year, data on legislation (laws and decrees) governing the legal status of Hungary’s minorities since 1945 (as well as other legal devices such as resolutions and instructions) have been collected and analysed in a systematic fashion and based on a proper methodology.