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Part II Historical and Legal Sources, Ch.13 The Protection of Minorities under the Auspices of the League of Nations

Péter Kovács

From: The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law

Edited By: Dinah Shelton

From: Oxford Public International Law (http://opil.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 07 December 2023

Subject(s):
Treaties, ratification — Citizenship — Right to non-discrimination — Religion — Languages, regional or minority — Protected persons and property

This article examines the protection of minority rights under League of Nations. It explains that the League was created to be a specialized institution for minorities but the mechanism for responding to the grievances of the minorities was developed only after the Versailles peace conference in 1919–20. It discusses the main principles and structures of the League of Nations mechanism and the complaints procedure. This article also explains that the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations in 1946 but its minority protection system was not included in the responsibilities of the new organization. It also highlights the contribution of the League to the evolution of the doctrine of the international legal protection of human rights.

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