Tendencies in Improving the Application of Legal Rules of National Minorities and Ethnic Groups

In the paper, the authors discuss the tendencies of development and improvement of legal guarantees of international and national regulations of individual countries and definitions of the term national minority and ethnic groups. We start from the hypothesis that international and national legal rules are well established, with the aim of improvement, but in practical application at the local level, the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, which represents the first comprehensive regional international agreement and legally binding international instrument, are bypassed or omitted, dedicated to the protection of national minorities. The definition of new and special rights and freedoms of man and citizen, that is, the scope and application of human rights and freedoms can be classified into different groups. The work will deal with the analysis of the rights and freedoms of ethnic groups and national minorities, the rights and freedoms of foreigners and stateless persons, the position of law in the field of governance, the constitutional duties of man and citizen in accordance with the criteria of the mutual relationship between the individual, that is, the citizen and the state. Researching the right to education, freedom of scientific and artistic creation represents freedom of thought as one of the spiritual freedoms. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees the freedom of scientific and artistic creativity, the publication of scientific and artistic works, guarantees moral and material rights to authors, and more. The essential part of the analysis refers to the research and strict application of the rights of members of national minorities, that is, the detailed elaboration and respect of minority rights, the prohibition of discrimination of national minorities, equality in the management of public affairs, the prohibition of forced assimilation, the right to preserve uniqueness and develop the spirit of tolerance, as well as the right to association and cooperation with compatriots. The Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Protection of National Minorities - represents the first comprehensive regional international agreement and the first legally binding international instrument, which is entirely dedicated to the protection of national minorities.