The right to freedom of information: ensuring access to historical documents

Recommendation 2270 (2024)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 7 March 2024 (see Doc. 15929, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Ms Klotilda Bushka).

1. The Assembly refers to its Resolution 2535 (2024) “The right to freedom of information: ensuring access to historical documents” and invites the Committee of Ministers to:

1.1 adopt a recommendation to member States of the Council of Europe in order to advance access to historical documents specifically. The recommendation should focus on:

1.1.1 the general principles that underpin access to information and how they affect historical documents in law and practice;

1.1.2 the conditions of access to historical documents by historians, researchers, academics, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the public at large;

1.1.3 procedures for requesting access to historical documents and their overall accessibility in practice;

1.1.4 oversight and review mechanisms, and the remedies available in the event of non-disclosure of historical documents by State authorities;

1.1.5 the need to support remembrance projects and initiatives;

1.1.6 the need for greater international collaboration in sharing historical information;

1.2 promote the signature and ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205) in order to advance access to documents held by public authorities more generally.