ACFC/56DOC(2016)001 Part II 1. The right to free self-identification General considerations 9. The right to free self-identification contained in Article 3 of the Framework Convention is a cornerstone of minority rights.12 The Advisory Committee has consistently underlined the centrality of this provision. “Free” implies, in this context, the individually established and informed decision to avail oneself of the protection of the Framework Convention. Article 3 is thus necessarily applicable to everyone, as every person must have the right to identify freely as a member of a specific group, or to choose not to do so. The Framework Convention’s Explanatory Report points out, however, that the choice of the individual is not to be arbitrary but must be linked to some objective criteria.13 10. The Advisory Committee has intentionally refrained from interpreting what such objective criteria may be, as it is clear from the wording of the Explanatory Report that they must only be reviewed vis-à-vis the individual’s subjective choice. Thus, objective criteria do not constitute elements of a definition. Self-identification begins with the free decision of the individual which, if no justification exists to the contrary, is to be the basis of any personal identification.14 In the view of the Advisory Committee, a person’s free selfidentification may only be questioned in rare cases, such as when it is not based on good faith. Identification with a national minority that is motivated solely by the wish to gain particular advantages or benefits, for instance, may run counter to the principles and purposes of the Framework Convention, in particular if such action diminishes the intended benefits and rights available to persons belonging to national minorities. 11. While the official recording of a self-identification may, in some cases, require the evidence of objective criteria,15 a minority identity must not be externally imposed. The Advisory Committee has criticised the mandatory recording of ethnicity in identity documents or in internal records of administrative entities, including the police and health care facilities, as contrary to the right to free self-identification.16 Moreover, it has considered that free self-identification implies the right to choose on a situational basis when to self-identify as a person belonging to a national minority and when not to do so.17 12. In practice, this means that each person belonging to a national minority may freely decide to claim specific rights contained in the Framework Convention, while under certain circumstances or with respect to certain spheres of rights, he or she may choose not to 12. According to Article 3(1), “Every person belonging to a national minority shall have the right freely to choose to be treated or not to be treated as such and no disadvantage shall result from this choice or from the exercise of the rights which are connected to that choice.” 13. According to para. 35, Article 3(1) “does not imply a right for an individual to choose arbitrarily to belong to any national minority. The individual’s subjective choice is inseparably linked to objective criteria relevant to the person’s identity.” 14. See also General Recommendation VIII of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1990). 15. See also Ciubotaru v. Moldova (application no. 27138/04), Judgment of 27 April 2010, where the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the right of a government to require the existence of objective evidence of a claimed identity. 16. See Fourth Opinion on the Czech Republic, First Opinion on Germany, Third Opinion on Ireland, First and Third Opinions on the Russian Federation and First and Second Opinions on Ukraine. 17. Persons belonging to national minorities may for instance choose to have their name officially recognised in a minority language but in parallel not use their minority language in contact with local administrative authorities. See also Third Thematic Commentary (footnote 4), especially paragraphs 16-18. 7