“Right to truth”: Emergence of a new right in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights?

Authors

  • Luis López Guerra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/aijc.22.01

Keywords:

Right to truth, positive obligations, right to information, European Convention on Human Rights.

Abstract

In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights the “right to truth” has an individual dimension, as it appears as integrated into the procedural aspect of Convention rights. It refers to the States’ positive obligation to perform an adequate investigation on the circumstances of the allegued violation of these rights, in order to provide a reparation to the victims. The Court has recognized the general interest of the public to an effective investigation of these violations, but this interest does not coinstitute an independent and autonomous right. In any case, the Court’s case law admits that from the right to inform and being informed derived from Convention article 10 results the obligation of the States to provide, for the general knowledge, the information they have on matters of general interest, including grave violations of human rights.

Issue

Section

STUDIES