The main approaches to the regulation of the status of national minorities in the Polish state restored after the First World War were investigated. They were reflected in the relevant provisions of the first Constitution of independent Poland (March 1921), which was a kind of compromise between the views of the Polish right-wing led by Roman Dmowski, who advocated the absolute dominance of ethnic Poles' interests, and the leaders of Polish socialist parties (T. Goluwko, L. Wasilewski), who wanted to support the national and cultural inspirations of minorities in exchange for their loyalty to the Polish state. The legal acts used to regulate the situation of national minorities were analysed. Their compliance with the international legal mechanisms for the protection of national minority rights, which began to operate in Europe within the framework of the Versailles-Washington system of international relations, in particular, the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles Minor, was determined. In case of compliance with the proclaimed legal norms, the Polish state had every chance to avoid an open confrontation with representatives of the non-title nation. However, the situation in Poland with regard to national minorities became a classic example of the discrepancy between law-making theory and law enforcement practice. It has been proved that due to the lack of mechanisms for monitoring compliance with international norms which were supposed to guarantee the rights of national minorities and imperfections in domestic legislation, the Polish authorities at various levels have repeatedly violated the democratic principles of the March 1921 Constitution and other legal acts designed to ensure equal rights for representatives of national minorities, which, in turn, created constant tension within the Second Polish Republic, destabilising the internal situation in the country. This situation was caused by a number of factors: the difficult economic situation, which provoked permanent tensions in society and the Poles' disrespect for members of national minorities. Artificially created borders after the First World War also provoked interethnic conflicts. Finally, it should be considered that the vast majority of Poles were supporters of the concept of the nation-state promoted by the National Democrats, which envisaged the assimilation of national minorities.
The peculiarities of the application of the amnesty institution under the legislation of the Russian Empire are studied, in particular, the Regulations on Criminal and Correctional Punishments of 1845, 1885, 1903, tsarist manifestos, the Amnesty Act of 1905, etc. Thus, the normative consolidation of concepts and partially the procedures of “pardon” and “condonation” was reflected in the Criminal and Correctional Penal Code of 1845, which were duplicated in the Regulations of 1885 and 1903. The reasons for the abolition of punishment could be the following: incurable illness or death of the accused, reconciliation of the parties, the statute of limitations for the crime and pardon. According to the norms of the Code, pardon of criminals came from the supreme autocratic power and the sovereign’s mercy. The cumbersome form of the tsarist manifestos, which were mostly issued in connection with solemn dynastic events, proved ineffective for state and political acts. When revolutionary and national movements in the Empire began to take their first steps, the government had to grant amnesty as proof of its sincerity and readiness for democratic changes. An example of such a step was the issuance of an amnesty act fated from June 25, 1905, which was a significant shift in the direction of modern legal understanding and legal enforcement of this legal institution. Also the author identified and analyzed several forms of amnesty, which were found in the legislation of that time: abolition, which abolished the general law for a particular case and extinguished the crime itself; indulgence, when not the crime itself was extinguished, but only the punishment for the committed crime; rehabilitation, according to which a person was released from serving a sentence and restored in rights. Depending on the interests and goals pursued by the state, different types of amnesty took place at different stages. In general, the Russian Empire was aware of its three forms: theocratic, dynastic and political.
Peculiarities of the international legal status determination of the national minorities within the Versailles system have been studied using the example of a number of Central and Eastern European countries. The governments of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary were asked, based on the norms of international law, to develop appropriate provisions for the protection of the rights of national minorities in order to prevent new conflicts and threats to peace. The system of treaties, declarations and agreements, which were supposed to ensure the observance of the rights of national minorities and whose guarantor was the League of Nations, has been analyzed. In practice, this was embodied in giving minorities the right to submit petitions to the Council or Assembly of the League of Nations, as well as in the activities of the Permanent Chamber of International Justice. The right to submit petitions was used at different times by representatives of the Ruthenian minority in Czechoslovakia, the Russian minority in Eastern Galicia, the Jewish minority in Hungary, the German minority in Poland, etc. The weaknesses of this system have been identified, which prevented the creation of effective international mechanisms for the protection of the rights of national minorities in the specified regions of Europe. In particular, it has been emphasized that the majority of treaties, conventions, treatises, etc. were openly sabotaged by the countries that were supposed to fulfill them. The governments of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe considered the proposed system unequal, because its conditions did not apply to a number of other multinational states that had similar problems. Conflict situations surrounding the problem of national minorities continued to arise. They were caused by various factors: from divided loyalties and irredentist movements to manifestations of governmental and social discrimination.
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