With only 3 of the 15 SADC countries having enacted Access to Information laws and only 4 recognising the Right to Know as a standalone right in their Constitutions, the relevance of the supra-national enforcement bodies in right to information litigation efforts is illustrated by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ decision in the case of Claude v Chile. In this case the regional court recognized that the general right to access state-held information is included in the guaranteed right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. Such interpretation of a provision of a regional human rights treaty by a regional body becomes authority in domestic enforcement of human rights.

Print Avenues for access to information litigation the legitimacy of supra-national judicial bodies in Southern Africa.pdf