A/HRC/7/19/Add.2 page 11 established by persons belonging to German, Russian, Swedish and Jewish minorities and persons belonging to national minorities with a membership of more than 3000”. 35. These national minorities as defined by the Law are entitled to specific rights, including the right to form cultural and educational institutions, religious congregations and ethnic organizations, to use their mother tongue “within the limits established by the Language Act”, and to publish, circulate and exchange information in the mother tongue. Other specific rights are contained in paragraph 4 of the Language Act. 36. Due to the definition of ethnic minorities as being composed by citizens, stateless persons living in Estonia are unable to benefit from the rights established by the Law. This definition was further stated in Estonia’s declaration when it ratified the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, when it declared that its understanding of the term national minorities is that contained in the Law on Cultural Autonomy of National Minorities. Under the Law, non-citizens “may not vote or be elected or appointed to the leadership of the institutions of cultural self-government”, but may take part in their activities (Article 6). 5. The Chancellor of Justice 37. The position of Chancellor of Justice was created by the Constitution as an independent official, appointed by Parliament, in charge of overseeing that all the proposed legal acts, both in national and local governments, are in accordance with the Constitution and overall legislation. Apart from investigating issues of constitutionality, the Chancellor of Justice is empowered to receive petitions containing allegations of violations of rights established in the Constitution or other legislation. 38. With the passing of the Chancellor of Justice Act in 1999, the Office gained new responsibilities, in particular the function of ombudsman, and has since then more centrally focused on the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. Furthermore, in 2004, new amendments to the Act empowered the Chancellor of Justice to deal with cases of discrimination, both in the public and in the private sectors. Since 2001, the Chancellor of Justice engaged in a strategy to open regional offices, particularly in the north-eastern regions, which have a higher proportion of stateless persons and minorities. 39. The Chancellor of Justice underlined that he has a key role to change attitudes within society, fighting the underlying reasoning that motivates racism rather than solely its consequences. To achieve this goal, the Chancellor expressed his engagement in activities such as awareness-raising, research, training and monitoring. In particular, his Office has organized training courses for civil servants working in other departments in order to explain the nature of human rights and obligations thereof. B. Policies and programmes to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance 40. According to Estonian authorities, apart from the existing legal framework and its monitoring by the Chancellor of Justice, a number of initiatives are being developed to promote