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its right to receive information under Article 10 of the ECHR, which guarantees
the freedom of expression.
28
Another case tried by the ECtHR was the
Guerra v.
Italy
case, where the right to information was considered in the light of Article 8
guaranteeing protection to private and family life. The applicants in the case lived
near a “high risk” chemical factory and complained that the municipal authorities
had failed to provide them with information about the risks of pollution and how to
conduct themselves in the case of a major accident in the factory.
29
The Court stated
that “severe environmental pollution may affect individuals’ well-being and prevent
them from enjoying their homes in such a way as to affect their private and family life
adversely”,
30
and therefore infringed their right to private and family life.
The international conventions that will be discussed below detail the procedures
for the implementation of such a right in the context of environmental information.
The preamble of the Aarhus Convention connects the concept that adequate protection
of the environment is essential to the enjoyment of basic human rights with the
concept that every person has the right to live in a healthy environment and the
obligation to protect the environment. It then concludes that to assert this right
and meet this obligation, citizens must have access to information, be entitled to
participate in decision-making and have access to justice in environmental matters.
31
The reception of information about the environment and environmental threats
is particularly important to every individual because, possessing such information,
he may take adequate individual decisions, especially regarding his own health.
This may be illustrated by the sad example of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
accident, where the information about the accident was concealed and people could
not take adequate measures to protect their health. People who lived in the affected
territories did not know about the dangers from the atmosphere, which had highly
elevated levels of radiation, and thus had spent a lot of time outdoors, in this way
causing much damage to their health. Therefore this proves that the possession of
information may become crucially important for members of a society in ensuring
their other rights.
28
Sdružení Jihočeské Matky v. Czech Republic
App no 19101/03 (ECtHR, 10 July 2006) The Court
dismissed the application on the basis of being ‘manifestly ill-founded’ as the authorities had adduced
sufficient justification for refusing access to the requested documents.
29
Guerra v. Italy
ECHR Reports 1998-I.
30
Ibid
., para 60.
31
Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice
in Environmental Matters (adopted 25 June 1998, entered into force 30 October 2001) 2161 UNTS
447 (Aarhus Convention), preamble, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The Aarhus
Convention. An Implementation Guide
(2nd. ed., United Nations, 2014) 18.