A liberdade de expressão na corte interamericana de direitos humanos: estudo de casos

Abstract

Freedom of expression is an essencial right that helps to shape human personality and that contributes with the development of human dignity. Furthermore, it represents a fundamental element in a democratic society, which means that its violation affects all other human rights protection. Due to its great importance, the present work aims to study the right to freedom of expression, analyzing what the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had decided in two specific cases. The study is subdivided into three parts. The first one presents the historical evolution of human rights, explaining how they were created and what is the current ideia about them. The second part analyzes some internacional documents, which recognize all kinds of human rights. Therefore, the first two parts discuss about human rights in general. Finally, the third part study specifically the right to freedom of expression, by presenting its concept and analyzing two cases judged by the Inter-American Court: Herrera Ulloa vs. Costa Rica Case and Ricardo Canese vs. Paraguay Case. In both of them, it was considered that the right to freedom of expression was violated. The methodology consists essentially in bibliographic research.