A/49/415/Add.1 English Page 5 14. The basic rights of the members of the Danish minority are, like those other German nationals, enshrined in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The legal basis for the status of the Danish minority was the Constitution of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein of 13 December 1949 in the form of the Act of 13 June 1990 Amending the Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein. Article 5 of the Constitution provides, inter alia, that profession of adherence to a national minority is open to all; it does not release individuals from generally applicable civic duties. 15. The process of systematic transformation initiated in Poland in 1989 has a significant impact on the situation of national minorities. Poland strives to adjust its laws towards the standards of international law. New legal regulations were made to address national minorities, usually in the form of provisions, in particular laws and lower normative acts. Many legal solutions, compatible with international standards, had been introduced prior to the adoption of General Assembly resolution 48/138 and Commission on Human Rights resolution 1944/22. 16. National minorities in Poland may freely associate. The law of 7 April 1989 on associations is based on the principle of freedom of association. Since its entry into force, 120 national associations have been registered (under communism, only seven such associations could operate). 17. New legal solutions were introduced into the Polish educational system in the field of teaching national minorities their mother tongue and having lessons in their mother tongue. The legal basis in that respect is the Law on the Educational System of 1991 and the Ordinance by the Minister of National Education on Organizing Education to Sustain the National, Ethnic and Linguistic Identity of the Student Members of a National Minority of 24 March 1992. This enables even a small group of students (from three to seven depending on the school profile) to have a class formed with teaching in the mother tongue or a curriculum in that language. 18. Other facilities are safeguarded for minorities under the Election Law to the Sejm (Diet) of the Republic of Poland of 28 May 1993. Election caucuses of registered organizations of national minorities are not subject to percentage thresholds in the number of votes gathered nationwide. 19. The law of 8 March 1990 on territorial self-government enables national minorities to participate in the local society. In communes where the non-Polish population prevails, they can determine their own destiny to the degree permitted by the scope of communal competence (the Law of 17 May 1990 on the Division of Responsibilities and Competence between Communal Units and State Administration Bodies). 20. An important element of State policy is increased access by minorities to public radio and television. This was safeguarded in the law of 29 December 1992 on radio and television broadcasting. Several regional radio stations air programmes in the languages of national minorities. /...