Facts: The applicant was a historian, who researched the functioning of the secret services in the Soviet period and prepared comparative studies of the political police forces of totalitarian regimes of Soviet-type states. He applied to the Hungarian State Security Service of the Ministry of the Interior and requested the Ministry to grant him access to certain documents concerning the functioning of the Hungarian State Security Service in the 1960s. His request was denied and the Ministy made reference to a decision of 29 October 1998 classifying the documents as State secrets until 2048.
Court’s reasoning: The Court decided that the refusal to access to requested documents was an interference with the right to receive information and was not justified in a democratic society. The Court declared that the state should ensure access to original documentary sources for legitimate historical research for the effective exercise of the freedom of expression.
The Court stated that there has been a violation of Article 10 of the Convention.
Kenedi v Hungary, Decision of the ECHR, 26 August 2009.
Prepared in the framework of the Open Society Human Rights Internship Grant 2013.
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