Convention—that is, related to the right to access to justice—but
also and effectively under Article 13, which establishes the right to
freedom of expression.
Consequently, I am additionally inclined to argue that the right to
the truth is directly and closely related to the right to information,
according to which—based on a comparative reading that makes
use of the regional dialogue—it is, for example, contemplated that
all persons have the right, on the one hand, to seek, receive,
exchange, produce, and disseminate information about facts and
processes in the general interest (Art.61 Constitution of the
Republic of Ecuador); this right encompasses the freedom to seek,
receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds. In Spain,
the right to information has been established in the Constitution as
a dual right: the right to communicate and the right to receive
information, recognized in numerous rulings by the Constitutional
Court. 17 Article 20(1)(d) recognizes, therefore, two differentiated
rights in which it is possible to distinguish both objective and
subjective dimensions. Objectively, both rights correspond to the
community, and are constituted as a guarantee of free public
communication, thus endowing them with a special precedence
over other constitutional rights, "with an effectiveness that
transcends what is common and characteristic of other
constitutional rights.” However, the freedom to transmit
information is the only one that can be subjectivized, receiving
individual protection, whether it is exercised by information
professionals or by any citizen.
The dual nature of this right—individual and collective—may enable
us to face the challenges of post-truth societies more decisively, or
as De Cabo said, enable us to recognize that the right to
information “Acquires in this way a dimension more of a social or
collective right (such as peace or a healthy environment), than an
individual guarantee,” bringing us closer to identifying the right to
the truth with this dual dimension of the right to information, laying
the groundwork for replacing the criminal procedural approach of
17
STC 105/1983, FJ 11