International Instruments and Standards

On this page we offer relevant treaties and other international instruments of intergovernmental organizations.

We have listed the Joint Declarations of the mandates on Freedom of Expression under the UN as well as appropriate regional headings. We would also like to draw your attention to two court cases, Claude Reyes v. Chile, issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary, issued by the European Court of Human Rights given their preeminent importance. Other judgments are referenced throughout the narrative materials on this site (see topics in the menu on the left), with links to where they may be found on other sites.

We plan eventually to add to this page the Aarhus Convention and other instruments relevant to access to environmental information as well as to privacy and data protection.

We will continue to add to the list and encourage you to send us additions or corrections using the Contact button in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  

United Nations

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III), 10 December 1948, Article 9.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI), 16 December 1966, Article 19.
• General Comment No.34 finalized on July 21, 2011, constitutes an authoritative interpretation of the freedoms of opinion and expression guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is binding on more than 165 countries.
• Convention Against Corruption, General Assembly Resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003. (in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) 
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 20 December 2006.
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 6 December 2004.

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Africa

• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), 27 June 1981, Article 19. (in English, in French).
• Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, 32nd Session, 17 - 23 October, 2002: Banjul, The Gambia. (in English, in French).
• Draft Model Law for African Union Member States on Access to Information in Africa (In English, in French).
• African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance, 30 January 2007. (in English, in French).
• Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), signed 24 July 1993. (official source, in English).
• Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol of the ECOWAS Treaty on the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, December 2001.
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 20 December 2006.

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Americas

• American Convention on Human Rights, "Pact of San José", November 22, 1969, Art. 13,  (in English, in Spanish).
• Case of Claude Reyes and Others v. Chile, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 19 September 2006, Serie C No. 151, (in English, in Spanish).
• Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 108th Regular Session, 19 October 2000 (see preamble, Principle 3 and 4).
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 20 December 2006.
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 6 December 2004.
• Model Law on Access to Information (in English, in Spanish), Organization of American States.
• Resolution on Passenger Protections and Canada’s Aviation No Fly List, Canada’s Privacy Commissioners and Privacy Enforcement Officials, calling for protections on the collection, use and disclosure to other governments of excessive and sensitive information about passengers.

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Europe

Council of Europe

• Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), Council of Europe, 04 November 1950, Art. 10, (in English, in French)
• Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, 27 November 2008 (in English, in French), and Explanatory Report to Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, (in English, in French) 
• Recommendation Rec (2002) 2 of the Committee of Ministers on Access to Official Documents, 21 February 2002
• Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)6 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on Measures to Promote the Respect for Freedom of Expression and Information with Regard to Internet Filters, 26 March 2008

Recommendation No. R (2000) 7 on the Right of Journalists not to Disclose their Sources of Information and its Explanatory Memorandum, 08 March 2000, and Explanatory Memorandum Declaration on the Freedom of Expression and Information, Committee of Ministers, 29 April 1982, 70th Session


Case of Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary, European Court of Human Rights, 14 April 2009, 37374/05

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European Union

• Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ 2001 L 145, (available in all EU languages)
• Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, OJ C 364, December 18, 2000, (available in all EU languages)
• Treaty on European Union - Declaration on the Right of Access to Information, OJ C 191, July 29, 1992, (available in ES, DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, IT, NL, PT)

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Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe

• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 20 December 2006
• Joint Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, 6 December 2004

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