How does law conceptualize groups and collective identities like race, ethnicity or nationality?  And how does it define who count as members? Identity, Belonging and the Law brings together legal scholars to address these questions through a series of case studies. The volume opens with a theoretical framework by András L. Pap, Principal Investigator of the ‚Legal Conceptualisation and Operationalisation of Ethnicity and Nationality’ research project, under the auspices of which the book is produced.

Subsequently the book proceeds to examine interpretations of Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The book discusses questions pertaining to the accommodation of various claims, including political representation of minorities, examines legal constructions of indigeneity, and the complexities of ethnic data in law enforcement.

Several contributions highlight how legal recognition and exclusion operate across different domains. Noémi Nagy and Norbert Tóth assess the case law of the UN Human Rights Committee, András L. Pap and Zsolt Körtvélyesi explore Indigenous rights; Balázs Dobos analyses voter eligibility in national-cultural minority autonomies; Katalin Szajbély examines how international human rights forums approach the wearing of religious symbols in schools. Other chapters by Eszter Kovács Szitkay and András Czebe zoom on how ethnicity and race are registered in law enforcement, forensic identification and the criminal justice process.

The volume targets legal scholars, policy makers and human rights professionals, but also speaks to a wider audience interested in the intersection of law, identity, and power. It asks: Can self-identification be sufficient for legal codification? Who gets to decide group membership in a democracy? And how do legal systems navigate the diverse contestation claims and practices? Identity, Belonging and the Law offers timely insights into these questions, grounded in both doctrinal analysis and real-world dilemmas.