Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations
International Human Rights Standards
Box 6.1: Freedom of expression in international human rights law
UDHR, Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.
ICCPR, Article 19
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all
kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form
of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries
with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to
certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and
are necessary:
a. For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
b. For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public),
or of public health or morals.
ECHR, Article 10
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include
freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas
without interference by public authority. […]
2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and
responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions
or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic
society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public
safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health
or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for
preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for
maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
In Copenhagen in 1990, OSCE participating States affirmed the following:
“Everyone will have the right to freedom of expression including the right to
communication […] [and the] freedom to hold opinions and to receive and
impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and
regardless of frontiers.”176
176
Copenhagen 1990, op. cit., note 141, para. 9.1.
93
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