ECOSOC during its second session (05.1946) empowered the Commission on Human Rights to establish two sub-commissions, the Sub-Commission on Protection of Minorities and the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination. The Commission decided during its first session (01.1947) to establish a single sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorites, asking that ECOSOC appoint the members of the sub-commission from a list of names provided by the Commission.
These records document the early work of the Sub-Commission as it addressed the protection of minorities and in particular the question of whether and to what extent the treaties and declarations of 1919 and thereafter concerning minorities should be regarded as being still in force.