The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has declared universal right to receive public information. This is the first decision of such kind at the level of international courts.

By the decision on the case Claude Reyes and others vs. Chile the Inter-American Court of Human Rights accused Chile of violating the right to receive public information. The case was the outcome of an unfounded denial to receive information filed by two ecologists willing to find out details of a project. The decision comprises the obligation of a state to both legislatively and by other means secure the fulfilment of the right to receive information, including the establishment of minimal conditions of prohibition to exercise the right.

The right to receive information is one of the fundamental human rights, which is laid down in numerous international and regional documents. The right provides not only for the access of citizens to the publicly important information, but also to the information concerning a human being as such and having the capacity of influencing his life. The violation of the right to receive information takes place in a vast number of countries because of poor legislation and the absence of the necessary mechanisms of implementing the right. That is why the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights proves to be a break-through in practical implementation of the norm at the international level. The latter fact gives us hope that not only international but also national courts will pay attention to the problems addressed by the Court.

Note: the Inter-American Court of Human Rights was grounded to implement basic rights and freedoms laid down in the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969. Thus, in 1969 an Inter-American Specialized Conference on Human Rights took place. The delegates from the member-states of the Organisation of Inter-American States adopted the American Convention on Human Rights, which came into force on August, 18 1978. Twenty five American countries have ratified the Convention.

To secure the provision of fundamental human rights the Convention provides for two bodies responsible for the protection of violated rights, namely the Inter-American Committee on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. Later on the Statute of the Court and the Regulations of the Court were elaborated.