General Comment No. 10: Freedom of expression (Art. 19) : .
29/06/1983.
CCPR General Comment No. 10. (General Comments)
Convention Abbreviation:
CCPR
GENERAL COMMENT 10
Freedom of expression
(Article 19)
(Nineteenth session, 1983)
1. Paragraph 1 requires protection of the "right to hold opinions without interference". This is
a right to which the Covenant permits no exception or restriction. The Committee would
welcome information from States parties concerning paragraph 1.
2. Paragraph 2 requires protection of the right to freedom of expression, which includes not
only freedom to "impart information and ideas of all kinds", but also freedom to "seek" and
"receive" them "regardless of frontiers" and in whatever medium, "either orally, in writing or
in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". Not all States parties
have provided information concerning all aspects of the freedom of expression. For instance,
little attention has so far been given to the fact that, because of the development of modern
mass media, effective measures are necessary to prevent such control of the media as would
interfere with the right of everyone to freedom of expression in a way that is not provided for
in paragraph 3.
3. Many State reports confine themselves to mentioning that freedom of expression is
guaranteed under the Constitution or the law. However, in order to know the precise regime
of freedom of expression in law and in practice, the Committee needs in addition pertinent
information about the rules which either define the scope of freedom of expression or which
set forth certain restrictions, as well as any other conditions which in practice affect the
exercise of this right. It is the interplay between the principle of freedom of expression and
such limitations and restrictions which determines the actual scope of the individual's right.
4. Paragraph 3 expressly stresses that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression
carries with it special duties and responsibilities and for this reason certain restrictions on the
right are permitted which may relate either to the interests of other persons or to those of the
community as a whole. However, when a State party imposes certain restrictions on the
exercise of freedom of expression, these may not put in jeopardy the right itself. Paragraph 3
lays down conditions and it is only subject to these conditions that restrictions may be
imposed: the restrictions must be "provided by law"; they may only be imposed for one of the
purposes set out in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 3; and they must be justified as
being "necessary" for that State party for one of those purposes.
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