Legal Nature of Religious Minorities and their Rights in International and Georgian Law

Abstract

This Article examines the legal nature of religious minorities and the rights and guarantees accorded to them by International and Georgian law. The research question stands as follows: 
In terms of protection of the rights of religious minorities, how effective are the International and Georgian legal norms; In some cases, does the legal norm itself put religious groups in an unequal position, or not.
In this article, the rights of religious minorities are generally examined by focusing on the concept of the minority group and analyzing the rights of religious minorities as defined by International and Georgian law. In terms of international legal norms, the focus is placed on reviewing the European Convention on Human Rights and the precedents handed down by the European Court of Human Rights. As for domestic law, freedom of religion is discussed under Georgia’s Constitution and other existing legislation. The paper also analyzes the mechanisms necessary for the protection and monitoring of the rights of religious minorities, as guaranteed under International and Georgian law.
Moreover, reference is made to all actual cases, which refer to problematic issues in terms of the protection of religious minorities, such as non-military alternative labor service. The topic of the article is relevant due to inconclusiveness, which currently exists in international law regarding the unspecified term of the minority. While minorities have always existed, no international legal instrument with binding or non-binding force protecting the rights of minorities can provide an explanation of what categories of groups belong to various minorities. As well as there is no single international legal instrument that sets out the basic principles that are required to be respected and outlines the obligations which will ensure the effective protection of the rights and freedoms of religious minorities within the territories of the Member States.