THE STATUSOF INDIGENOUS AND MINORITY PEOPLE legislation. In the pream ble to the above mentioned Administrative Agreement the state expressed its role vis-a-v is the Frisian lnguage and culture(note: not the minority as such )as that of supporting the desirability of the continued existence and promotion of the Frisian langua ge and culture as well as of implementing a generous Apart from a general adherence to the equality principle and the system of proportional representation, there are no specific prov isions to guarantee the politica rticipation of Frisians in national or regional govemments. There are no exemptions from general legislation for the Frisian minority On the other hand, the Adm inistrative Agreement did open the door to positive action towards the Frisian language and culture. The preamble to the Adm inistrative Agreement specifically mentions"the desirability of granting the Frisian anguage and culture a proportional chance of development in comparison with the Dutch language and culture As a result of the administrative a greement between the national govemment and the province of Friesland an interdepartmental working group was installed which meets twice every year in order to monitor together with the prov ince of Friesland the progress of the implementation of the measures resulting from the adm inistrative agreement. The working group reports to the national Parliament and the provincial council of Friesland on a yearly basis There are no special courts established in the Netherlands to hear disputes between representatives of m inority peoples. There is, however, the Equal Treatment Comm ission, an independent organization established by the govemment, which has powers to review complaints it receives to see if the regulations on equal treatment have been violated. The Commission deals with equal treatment involving, amongst others, religion, race, gender, nationality. The cases under its consideration may not ly involve representatives of minorities and public bodies, but private parties well. The Netherlands does not have a constitutional court. The national legislature is considered sovereign in decid ing whether legislation complies with the Constitution Internationaltreaties As was mentioned above, in 1996 the Netherlands ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe. The Netherlands has not ratified ILO Convention 107, but it did ratify Convention 169 as of 2 February 1998 ILO Convention 169 was signed and ratified by the Netherlands, because the govemment wanted to settle a good example and promote that other countries would sign the treaty as well. It was felt that it would contribute to the legal protection of indigenous peoples. In its bilateral relations, the Dutch govemment supports development projects for indigenous peoples, as long as these are supported by the indigenous peoples themselves and comply with their cultures. 2 In its international policies, the Dutch government declares to work towards the comingabout of the Draft Declaration conceming the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Minister oor Onhwikkelingssamemwerking aan de Tweede Kamerder Staten General(The HagueTHE STATUS OF INDIGENOUS AND MINORITY PEOPLE 5 legislation. In the preamble to the above mentioned Administrative Agreement the state expressed its role vis-à-vis the Frisian language and culture (note: not the minority as such) as that of supporting the desirability of the continued existence and promotion of the Frisian language and culture as well as of implementing a generous policy. Apart from a general adherence to the equality principle and the system of proportional representation, there are no specific provisions to guarantee the political participation of Frisians in national or regional governments. There are no exemptions from general legislation for the Frisian minority. On the other hand, the Administrative Agreement did open the door to positive action towards the Frisian language and culture. The preamble to the Administrative Agreement specifically mentions “the desirability of granting the Frisian language and culture a proportional chance of development in comparison with the Dutch language and culture”. As a result of the administrative agreement between the national government and the province of Friesland an interdepartmental working group was installed, which meets twice every year in order to monitor together with the province of Friesland the progress of the implementation of the measures resulting from the administrative agreement. The working group reports to the national Parliament and the provincial council of Friesland on a yearly basis. There are no special courts established in the Netherlands to hear disputes between representatives of minority peoples. There is, however, the Equal Treatment Commission, an independent organization established by the government, which has powers to review complaints it receives to see if the regulations on equal treatment have been violated. The Commission deals with equal treatment involving, amongst others, religion, race, gender, nationality. The cases under its consideration may not only involve representatives of minorities and public bodies, but private parties as well. The Netherlands does not have a constitutional court. The national legislature is considered sovereign in deciding whether legislation complies with the Constitution. 4 International Treaties As was mentioned above, in 1996 the Netherlands ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe. The Netherlands has not ratified ILO Convention 107, but it did ratify Convention 169 as of 2 February 1998. ILO Convention 169 was signed and ratified by the Netherlands, because the government wanted to settle a good example and promote that other countries would sign the treaty as well. It was felt that it would contribute to the legal protection of indigenous peoples. In its bilateral relations, the Dutch government supports development projects for indigenous peoples, as long as these are supported by the indigenous peoples themselves and comply with their cultures.2 In its international policies, the Dutch government declares to work towards the coming about of the Draft Declaration concerning the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2. Inheemse volken in het buitenlands beleid en in de ontwikkelingssamenwerking, Brief van de Minister voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking aan de Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal (The Hague 1998) 4