Chapter 3. The Council of Europe of a right to a nationality in that denial of nationality could amount to a violation of the right to respect for private and family life – where such denial would indeed have consequences for a person’s life.634 The 2011 Genovese case635 is, to date, the landmark case as regards nationality under Article 8 of the ECHR, as it explicitly recognized nationality as part of an individual’s social identity as protected under the right to private life636 – which was affirmed in developing case law since. This case and others are considered further in section 3.3. Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM)637 was adopted in 1995 and entered into force in 1998. As of January 2022, it has been ratified by 39 states.638 It aims “to specify the legal principles which states undertake to respect in order to ensure the protection of national minorities”.639 According to Article 1 of the FCNM, “[t]he protection of national minorities and of the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to those minorities forms an integral part of the international protection of human rights”. Section II of the Framework Convention contains substantive provisions, including the prohibition of discrimination in Article 4. Section III includes guidance on interpretation of the FCNM, as well as the obligations of national minorities themselves. Section IV considers monitoring of the implementation of the Framework Convention. Pursuant to these provisions, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ACFC) was installed by the CM.640 The ACFC consists of 18 independent experts and monitors the implementation of the FCNM by a reporting procedure for states, adopting country-specific opinions and advising the CM.641 Interestingly, the FCNM does not define ‘national minorities’ anywhere – “[i]t was decided to adopt a pragmatic approach, based on the recognition that at this stage, it is impossible to arrive at a definition capable of mustering general support of all 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 See also Mónika Ganczer, ‘The Right to a Nationality as a Human Right?’ in Petra Lea Láncos, Réka Varga, Tamás Molnár, Marcel Szabó (eds), Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law 2014 (Eleven International Publishing 2015) 15–33, 23. Genovese v Malta App No 53124/09 (ECHR, 11 October 2011) ECLI:CE:ECHR:2011:1011 JUD005312409. Ibid, para 33. Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Strasbourg, 1995, CETS No. 157) (FCNM). CoE Treaty Office, ‘Chart of Signatures and Ratifications of Treaty 157’ <https://www.coe.int/en/web/ conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/157/signatures?p_auth=JjR58qcq> accessed 28 May 2021. CoE, Explanatory Report to the to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Strasbourg, 1 February 1995, CETS No. 157) para 10. See also Gauthier de Beco & Emma Lantschner, ‘The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (the ACFC)’ in Gauthier de Beco (ed), Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms of the Council of Europe (Routledge Research in Human Rights Law, Routledge 2013) 100–126. See also CoE, ‘Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities’ <https://www.coe.int/en/web/minorities/advisory-committee> accessed 28 May 2021. Intersentia 121