ENThe article concerns the issues related to the now renowned concept of multicultural policy, especially with regard to its doctrinal and legal background. A gross change in thinking must be taken into consideration: he discourse on human rights has gradually been tranferred to the level of communities of people differing from each other on the criterion, e.g., of gender. In this situation we can see a number of ambiguities or paradoxes while there are two aspects of the whole „project” that must be underlined: first, the problem of weakening the connection between citizenship (in a nation state) and cultural identity; second, the threat of „tribalization” of the law system.