Pozitivna diskriminacija u regulaciji i zaštiti prava i sloboda pripadnika nacionalnih manjina – uloga Ustavnog suda Republike Hrvatske
Authors: Arlović Mato 
Published: November 2019

Implementing the banning of discrimination is one of the most important tasks of all bodies dealing with the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. That is, every achieved outlawing of discrimination is a firm indication of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, from that important principle in legal political and overall social relations, there are also exceptions or deviations. They can be seen in the principle of positive discrimination which is a necessary corrective in achieving the rights and freedoms of minorities or underrepresented groups. That is, in democratic societies, where the principle of majority rules, reaching decisions on underrepresented groups, always depends on decisions which the majority reaches. Regardless of how 'democratic' society is, a democratic society with its principle of rule of law cannot allow the majority to freely assess whether it will decide on the legal regulation, achieving and protection of minority rights in order to allow achievement of this in all segments of social relations of important rights and freedoms for their self-actualisation. For this reason, countries with the rule of law, by legally regulating positive discrimination ensure legal constitutional guarantees so that minorities regulate, achieve and protect so called positive rights and freedoms which in turn ensure the self-actualisation of these rights through achieving their ethos. Positive discrimination is precisely therefore one of the most complex, but very sensitive legal, political issues in general. It is necessary. Although positive, it is discrimination, nonetheless. Its sensitivity is present regardless of the fundamentals which it prescribes. However, in relation to some of them, it can have, and most often does have, wider legal, political and even cultural implications. A striking example is the applied principle of positive discrimination among national minorities. Because this is a sensitive area, every positive discrimination, in order to be permitted and justified, must be necessary and needed in a democratic society. It must be objectively justified with a previously legally justified legitimate aim and it must be proportionate.
This paper attempts to conceptually determine according to the concepts of banning and positive discrimination and their mutual differences. The most important legal sources, according to the author, have been chosen and analysed. These regulate both national and transnational principles.
Particular attention has been paid to positive discrimination in the regulation, achieving and protection of the rights and freedoms of national minorities, all of course within the legal constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia.
Finally, constitutional court procedure and the decision making of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia is dealt with in the abstract and concrete controls of constitutionality and legality of positive discrimination in relation to national minorities. Stances taken by the Constitutional Court in proceedings in such cases have been supported by concrete examples.