Conventions
The Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents is the first binding international legal instrument to recognise a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. Transparency of public authorities is a key feature of good governance and an indicator of whether or not a society is genuinely democratic and pluralist. The right of access to official documents is also essential to the self-development of people and to the exercise of fundamental human rights. It also strengthens public authorities’ legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and its confidence in them.
Protocols to the European Convention on Human Rights
- Protocol No. 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [CETS No. 214]
- Protocol No. 15 amending the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [CETS No. 213]
- Protocol No. 14bis to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [CETS No. 204]*
- Protocol No. 14 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, amending the control system of the Convention [CETS No. 194]
- Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances [ETS No. 187]
- Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [ETS No. 177]
- Protocol No. 11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, restructuring the control machinery established thereby [ETS No. 155]
- Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by Protocol No. 11 [ETS No. 117]
- Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty as amended by Protocol No. 11 [ETS No. 114]
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*This Protocol ceased to be in force or applied on a provisional basis as from 1 June 2010, date of entry into force of Protocol No. 14 to the Convention (Article 9).
Useful links:
Secretary General
Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law
Committee of Ministers
Parliamentary Assembly
Access to Official Documents (TROMSØ CONVENTION)
Department for the execution of the Court's Judgments
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
HELP – European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals
Online Plateform Human Rights and Business
Chair of the CDDH