Inclusive Approach for Protection of Minority Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Republic of Serbia from a Human-Rights Perspective

Abstract

Protection of the intangible cultural heritage represents a significant aspect of the protection of the rights of national minorities, and in our context it is gaining special significance in the context of the sensitive legacy of inter-ethnic conflicts and the need to prevent bilateral conditionality in Serbian accession to the European Union. Eventhough it is usually not comprehended, by joining the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Republic of Serbia has been granted another important instrument for improving the status of members of national minorities. In previous years, despite the lack of an adequate legal framework, an original and successful institutional mechanism for the implementation of this regime has been established within national framework, with significant results already noticeable. The article analyzes the current legal framework for the protection of minority rights from the perspective of the protection of the intangible cultural heritage and considers the legally relevant results of the joint legal-ethno-anthropological research to date. The analysis also provides recommendations that suggest possible legal solutions aimed at preventing the instrumentalisation of minority cultural heritage issues and the lack of its protection in the context of the European integration process and the culturalized bilaternal conditionality.