湖北民族学院副院长、教授 司马俊莲（赵一帆 摄）


中国少数民族文化权利法律保护的特点及其完善

　　少数民族文化权利是少数民族权利的重要内容之一。新中国成立后，始终注重对少数民族文化权利的法律保护。在立法理念上将少数民族文化权利作为基本人权进行保护；在保护措施上注重法律与政策相结合等。这些措施较好地保障了少数民族的文化权利。但在新的历史时期，中国少数民族文化权利的法律保护需要做出新的调整，以适应国内外文化环境和文化政策的变化趋势。目前，中国少数民族文化权利的法律保护还存在一定问题：主要表现在保护价值理念上的单一性、保护内容上的狭窄性、保护措施缺乏可操作性以及保护意识缺乏自觉性等方面。为此，应当加强法律的体系化建设，包括宪法上将少数民族文化权利确立为一项基本原则，地方立法上要注重体现自身区域特色和科操作性；在立法程序上应充分尊重少数民族权利主体自身的意愿，强化在文化开发中的利益分享原则；在立法宗旨上要处理好保护与发展的关系，注重少数民族文化自身的不断创新；同时，少数民族自身应注重“文化自觉”，加强对本民族文化的保护意识。只有从政府到社会，从中央到地方多方面等全方位着手，才能有效地促进少数民族文化权利的保护、切实充分地保护少数民族的文化权利，从而实现平等、团结、互助、和谐的民族关系，最终促进整个社会的和谐发展。
 

Legal Protection for the Cultural Rights of Ethnic Minorities in China: Features and Improvement

Sima Junlian

The ethnic minorities’ cultural rights are one of their most fundamental rights. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the central government has always attached great importance to the legal protection of the cultural rights of ethnic minorities of the country, enshrined such rights as fundamental human rights in laws, and has ensured the combination of legislation and policies, thus effectively protecting the ethnic minorities’ cultural rights. However, as China enters a new stage of development, it has become imperative to make more modifications to legal protections of ethnic minorities’ cultural rights so as to meet the changing trends in cultural environment and policies at home and abroad. At present, there remain some deficiencies in the legal protection of such rights, namely, the over-simplicity of the approach to protection, insufficiency of the content of such protection, infeasibility of some protective measures, a lack of conscious motivation for such protection, among others. To tackle these problems, we should consolidate the legal system by including protecting ethnic minorities’ cultural rights into the Constitution as a fundamental principle and giving more consideration to local characteristics and improving the operability in local legislation; in terms of legislative procedures, sufficient respect should be given to minority ethnic groups; and in setting legislative goals, the relationship between protection and development should be soundly coordinated, and voluntary cultural innovation by ethnic minorities should be encouraged. On the other hand, ethnic minorities should also cultivate their own “cultural awareness” and step up the protection of their culture. Only when governments at different levels and the entire society join hands and take all-round measures can we eventually enhance China’s harmonious development through protecting the ethnic minorities’ cultural rights and establishing a harmonious ethnic relationship on the basis of equality, solidarity and mutual assistance.