NRDO

Aurora Ciucă, Citizenship, between the National and the International: Notes on a Case 

            The application of EU law to cases involving the granting and loss of the citizenship of a member state is a delicate issue, now considered for the first time by the European Court of Justice. While member states do enjoy sovereignty in deciding who is a national, are these powers unlimited? Being an EU member confers each of the 27 states a special legal identity, which makes it necessary to answer the question concerning the limits of this power.

            The Rottmann case, which is the starting point for this discussion, shows why it is necessary to reassess the distinction between situations that pertain to domestic law and situations pertaining to international law. Specifically, the illicitly obtained German citizenship of a former Austrian national was rescinded after he automatically lost the citizenship of his country of birth. This immediately leads to a loss of European citizenship as well. In reaching the conclusion that community law is applicable in this case, the Court decided to enforce the community principle of proportionality at national level.

Keywords: citizenship, community law, European citizenship, refugee, stateless persons, the EU Court of Justice, the Rottmann case

Gabriel Andreescu, Combating Discrimination as Public Policy: CNA’s and CNCD’s Reading of an Academia Caţavencu Commercial

After a commercial for the weekly satirical publication Academia Caţavencu was widely broadcasted on TV in May 2010, the National Council of the Audiovisual (CNA) received three complaints concerning the “offense” to Hungarians caused by their portrayal as “conquerors of the Romanian people”, and, respectively, to Romanians, who were depicted as “s lazy south-east European people”. The CNA requested an opinion from the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), which ruled that the message in the commercial is stereotypical and creates a hostile, degrading and humiliating atmosphere for the members of the two ethnic communities. The CNA subsequently adopted this reading of the commercial.

The study shows that these two institutions’ assessments exhibit an increasing tendency to render judgments concerning the professional contents of messages and on the characteristics of persons engaged in public debate. This readiness, together with the drawbacks of legislation in the field of fighting discrimination, leads to excessive interferences with freedom of expression. The norms and public policies in the field must be seriously reconsidered.

Keywords: discrimination, freedom of expression, commercials, satirical press, National Council of the Audiovisual, National Council for Combating Discrimination

Mihaela Roxana Prisacariu, The Participation of People Belonging to National Minorities to Public Decisions through Minorities’ Political Parties

The present study analyzes the content and limits of the right of association in political parties of people belonging to national minorities, the relationship between this right, democracy and national sovereignty, seeking to highlight the limits of state appreciation in this area. The purpose of this review is to propose an interpretation of the national rule concerning the right of association in political parties.

For this purpose, we study the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence concerning the right of association in cases related to the creation / dissolution of some political parties of national minorities, where the Court had to consider the interaction of this right, democracy and national sovereignty. We then discuss the limits of applying such decisions, limits which in our view influence the exercise of freedom of association. We conclude with some remarks on the funding of political parties by foreign subjects of law.

Keywords: national minorities, political parties, funding, freedom of association, freedom of expression