The thesis deals with the formal-legal status of the Molise Croat community in the Italian
province Molise, more concretely with their formal-legal status and the use they make of their
minority rights. There is a historical overview in which the origin and language of the Molise
Croats is presented. Here the language is analyzed on a morphological and lexical level
through examples of texts in Molise Croatian. On the basis of a quality-analysis of the laws,
all the provincial, state and european laws which grant minority rights are comparatively
analyzed. Then, through the use of the interview method, a research on the use of their
minority rights is provided in terms of a) activities which aim to the preservation of the
identity and the awareness of the community about its affiliation, b) school and education, c)
the use of the minority language in public.
The results of the quality analysis of the laws show, that the Italian state law, which should be
protecting the minorities and giving them rights, doesn't assure the execution of said rights, it
just allows it and leaves total responsibility to local and provincial administrations. The
interview has unveiled the fact, that the execution of certain minority rights is deprived by the
small number of the members of the community, which is getting even smaller because of the
emigration caused by the globalization and the changes in lifestyle. Results of the research
show that the Molise Croat community would need such language revitalization, which would
be financed by the states and the European union.
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