CYIL vol. 7 (2016)

363

CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ

DO THE EUROPEANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT…

freedom.

In international jurisprudence, this freedom was firstly explained as

encompassing the right for the public to have wide access to information and the

opportunity to disseminate information and opinions about the activities of elected

bodies and their members.

But later on the focus switched and for example, the

UN Human Rights Committee published a new General Comment on Article 19

of the ICCPR, which, in contrast to its predecessor, – expressly acknowledged that

Article 19 includes a general right of access to information held by public bodies.

The right to information can also be linked to the implementation of other rights

– for example, the right to freedom (entailing the right to know the content of the

accusation), the right to a fair trial (entailing the right to acquaint oneself with the

materials of the case) etc.

The right to information is also considered by international and regional human

rights bodies in the context of the provision of information related to the environment.

For example, in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights case Claude Reyes v.

Chile, the question rose regarding the refusal in May and August 1998 to provide

Marcel Claude Reyes, Sebastián Cox Urrejola and Arturo Longton Guerrero with

all the information they requested from the Foreign Investment Committee on the

forestry company Trillium and the Río Condor Project, a deforestation project to be

executed in Chile’s Region XII that “c[ould] be prejudicial to the environment and to

the sustainable development of Chile.”

The Court stated that “the right to freedom

of thought and expression includes “not only the right and freedom to express one’s

own thoughts, but also the right and freedom to seek, receive and impart information

and ideas of all kinds.”

According to the Court, “the right to freedom of thought

and expression includes the right to “seek” and “receive” information, Article 13

of the Convention protects the right of all individuals to request access to State-

held information, with the exceptions permitted by the restrictions established in the

Convention.”

The decision mentioned above might have influenced the ECtHR, which

has ruled in its decision on admissibility in the

Sdruženy Jihočeské Matky v. Czech

Republic

case that the rejection of the applicant’s request for information relating to

the design and construction of a nuclear reactor amounted to an interference with

MCDONAGH (supra n 19) 29.

Ibid

., 31, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed this view in its case

Gauthier v Canada

Claude-Reyes et al. v. Chile

(2006) IACHR Series C No. 151.

Ibid.

, para 3.

Ibid

., para. 76.

Ibid

., para 77. The Court states further: “Consequently, this article protects the right of the individual

to receive such information and the positive obligation of the State to provide it, so that the individual

may have access to such information or receive an answer that includes a justification when, for any

reason permitted by the Convention, the State is allowed to restrict access to the information in

a specific case. The information should be provided without the need to prove direct interest or personal

involvement in order to obtain it, except in cases in which a legitimate restriction is applied.”