THE STATUSOF INDIGENOUS AND MINORITY PEOPLE the regular provincial and local government structures that facilitate the Frisian nguage in the province of Friesland. There are, of course, several civil society organizations lobby ing for more autonomy for the province, defending culture, tradition and customs, or promoting protection of heritage sites. The province of Friesland is responsible for the regulation of grammar and spelling of the Frisian language and for the protection of the Frisian language and culture. There is a national consultative body for the Frisian bangua ge, which adv ises the Minister of the Interior on matters conceming the Frisian language and culture. There also is a provincal advisory council, the "Erie foar it Frysk, which is consulted by the provincal administration on matters conceming general policy development and developments in society in relation to the language policy of the province me of the The Constitution opens with a chapter on Fundamental Rights. Sor provisions that are relevant here are 1. Equality."All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrim ination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted. " (Article 1) All Dutch nationals shall be equally eligible forappointment to public service. "(Art 3)Every Dutch national shall have the right to elect the members of the general representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, subject to the lim itations and exceptions prescribed by an Act of Parliament. "(Art. 4) 2. Civil rights: Everyone shall have the rights to profess freely his religion or belief, either individually or in community with others, without prejudice to his responsibility under the law. " (Art 6. 1)The right of association shall be recognized. (Art. 8)"The right of assem bly and demonstration shall be recognized without prejudice to the responsibility of everyone underthe law. " (Art. 9.1) 3. Cultral rights: The authorities shall promote social and cultural development and leisure activities. "(Art. 22.3) The Constitution does not specifically address the interests of minority peoples Rights relating to the use of the Frisian language are regulated by ordinary Acts of Parliament. The source within the dutch legal system for legal rights for the Frisian only one minority has been granted specific linguist ic rights, apply ing to a designate minority is positive legislation, instituted by ordinary Acts of Parliament. Up till now, area. This recognition is based on a longer standing recognition that Frisian is indeed a separate Language, something, which has been confirmed by the Council of Europe There are no general legal criteria that open the possibility for other linguistic minorities- which have not yet been offically identified- to get similar arrangements as those regarding the Frisian language. The principle of proportional representation, however, is specifically intended to allow for representation of minorities of various kinds in the legislative assem blies Legislation regarding minority rights Linguistic rights in the public sphere are dealt with in the General AdministrativeTHE STATUS OF INDIGENOUS AND MINORITY PEOPLE 3 the regular provincial and local government structures that facilitate the Frisian language in the province of Friesland. There are, of course, several civil society organizations lobbying for more autonomy for the province, defending culture, tradition and customs, or promoting protection of heritage sites. The province of Friesland is responsible for the regulation of grammar and spelling of the Frisian language and for the protection of the Frisian language and culture. There is a national consultative body for the Frisian language, which advises the Minister of the Interior on matters concerning the Frisian language and culture. There also is a provincial advisory council, the “Berie foar it Frysk”, which is consulted by the provincial administration on matters concerning general policy development and developments in society in relation to the language policy of the province. The Constitution opens with a chapter on Fundamental Rights. Some of the provisions that are relevant here are: 1. Equality: “All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.” (Article 1) “All Dutch nationals shall be equally eligible for appointment to public service.” (Art. 3) “Every Dutch national shall have the right to elect the members of the general representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, subject to the limitations and exceptions prescribed by an Act of Parliament.”(Art. 4) 2. Civil rights: “Everyone shall have the rights to profess freely his religion or belief, either individually or in community with others, without prejudice to his responsibility under the law.” (Art 6.1) “The right of association shall be recognized.” (Art. 8) “The right of assembly and demonstration shall be recognized, without prejudice to the responsibility of everyone under the law.” (Art. 9.1) 3. Cultural rights: “The authorities shall promote social and cultural development and leisure activities.” (Art. 22.3) The Constitution does not specifically address the interests of minority peoples. Rights relating to the use of the Frisian language are regulated by ordinary Acts of Parliament. The source within the Dutch legal system for legal rights for the Frisian minority is positive legislation, instituted by ordinary Acts of Parliament. Up till now, only one minority has been granted specific linguistic rights, applying to a designated area. This recognition is based on a longer standing recognition that Frisian is indeed a separate language, something, which has been confirmed by the Council of Europe. There are no general legal criteria that open the possibility for other linguistic minorities - which have not yet been officially identified - to get similar arrangements as those regarding the Frisian language. The principle of proportional representation, however, is specifically intended to allow for representation of minorities of various kinds in the legislative assemblies. 3 Legislation regarding minority rights Linguistic rights in the public sphere are dealt with in the General Administrative