75 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, establish a positive right to seek and receive information.295 197. The Court has also established that Article 13 of the Convention, in expressly stipulating the rights to seek and receive information, protects the right of every person to request access to information under State control, with the conditions permitted under the regime of restrictions of the Convention. As a consequence, said Article protects the right of persons to receive said information and the positive obligation of the State to provide it, in a way that the person will be able to know this information or receive a well-founded response when, under one of the reasons permitted by the Convention, the State is able to limit access to it in that specific case. Said information must be handed over without the necessity of having to prove a direct interest or personal involvement in the procurement of said information, with the exception of the cases where a legitimate restriction applies. Its surrender to a person ought to allow for the circulation of said information within society in a way that allows persons to know it, obtain access to it, and evaluate it.296 In this manner, the right to freedom of thought and expression enshrines the protection of the right to access information under State control, which also establishes, in a clear manner, the two dimensions—the individual and social—of the right to freedom of thought and expression, which must be guaranteed by the State in a simultaneous manner.297 198. In this regard, the Court has highlighted that, the existence of a regional consensus of States that comprise the Organization of American States on the importance of access to public information. Moreover, the necessity to protect the right to access public information has been the objective behind specific orders issued by the General Assembly of the OAS,298 wherein “[i]t urg[ed] States Parties to respect and ensure the access to public information of all persons and [to promote] the adoption of legal provisions or of another nature that are necessary to assure its recognition and effective application.”299 Likewise, the General Assembly, in diverse orders, considered that access to public information is an indispensable requisite for democracy to function, for increased transparency, and for good governance and that in a representative and participatory democratic system, the citizenry exercises its constitutional rights by means of wide-ranging freedom of expression and access to information.300 199. On the other hand, the Inter-American Court has determined that, in a democratic society, it is indispensable that State authorities be governed by a 295 Cf. Case of Claude Reyes et al., supra note 294, para. 76. 296 Cf. Case of Claude Reyes et al., supra note 294, para. 77. 297 Cf. Case of “The Last Temptation of Christ” (Olmedo Bustos et al.) v. Chile. Judgment of February 5, 2001. Series C No. 73, para. 67; Case of López Álvarez, supra note 294, para. 163, and Case of Claude Reyes et al., supra note 294, para. 77. 298 Cf. Case of Claude Reyes et al., supra note 294, para. 78. 299 General Assembly of the OAS, AG/RES. 2514 (XXXIX-O/09) of June 4, 2009 on “Access to Public Information: Strengthening of Democracy,” Operative Paragraph 2. 300 Cf. General Assembly of the OAS, Orders AG/RES. 1932 (XXXIII-O/03) of June 10, 2003; AG/RES. 2057 (XXXIV-O/04) of June 8, 2004, AG/RES. 2121 (XXXV-O/05) of June 7, 2005; AG/RES. 2252 (XXXVI-O/06) of June 6, 2006, AG/RES. 2288 (XXXVII-O/07) of June 5, 2007, AG/RES. 2418 (XXXVIII-O/08) of June 3, 2008, and AG/RES. 2514 (XXXIX-O/09) of June 4, 2009, all of them on “Access to Public Information: Strengthening of Democracy.” [“Acceso a la Información Pública: Fortalecimiento de la Democracia.”]