SOCIETY, RIGHTS  
      AND THE ENVIRONMENT
       INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS APPLICABLE 
        TO ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION  
              AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE 
                    Society, rights  
            and the environment
           INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS APPLICABLE  
             TO ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION  
                          AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE 
      This document was prepared under the overall supervision of Joseluis Samaniego, Chief of the Sustainable Development 
      and Human Settlements Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and 
      Amerigo Incalcaterra, Regional Representative for South America of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner 
      for Human Rights (OHCHR).
      It was drafted by David Barrio, with support from Carlos de Miguel and Valeria Torres, of ECLAC, and from  
      Humberto Henderson, Krista María Orama and Alejandra Parra, of OHCHR.
      This document constitutes an input from ECLAC and OHCHR to the negotiations for the adoption of a regional agreement 
      on access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, referred 
      to as the “Principle 10 process” (in reference to Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development), 
      of which ECLAC is the technical secretariat. More information on the process can be found at: http://www.cepal.org/en/
      topics/principle-10. 
      This document was prepared with financial support from the United Nations Development Account under the project 
      “Addressing critical socio-environmental challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
      The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and 
      do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. 
      LC/W.712
      Copyright © United Nations, November 2016. All rights reserved
      Printed at United Nations, Santiago
      S.16-00930
                                                                                                          Contents
                Foreword  ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................11
                Chapter I:  
                GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................................13
                A)    OVERVIEW OF THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM  .................................................................15
                B)    THE HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH  ............................................................................................................................17
                C)     THE CORE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES  
                       IN THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN REGION  ................................................................................................17
                D)     THE RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION  
                       AND JUSTICE AS HUMAN RIGHTS  ..............................................................................................................................................21
                E)    IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCESS RIGHTS ...................................................................................................................................22
                F)    RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................................23
                G)    RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN DECISION-MAKING ...............................................................................................................25
                H)    RIGHT OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE .........................................................................................................................................................27
                I)    EQUALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION ................................................................................................................................30
                J)    REFERENCES TO SPECIFIC GROUPS ............................................................................................................................................31
                K)    HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS ............................................................................................................................................................32
                Annex I.1
                LINKS TO RELEVANT DOCUMENTS .............................................................................................................................................................34
                       Universal system .............................................................................................................................................................................................34
                       Inter-American system .............................................................................................................................................................................37
                Chapter II:  
                COMPILATION OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS .........................................................................................................................39
                A)    IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCESS RIGHTS ...................................................................................................................................41
                       Universal System .........................................................................................................................................................................................41
                       International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) ......................................................................................41
                           Human Rights Committee, General Observation no. 31 on the Nature  
                           of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the  
                           Covenant, 2004, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13 ......................................................................................................................42
                       Inter-American system .........................................................................................................................................................................45
                       American Convention on Human Rights (1969) ...................................................................................................................45