Part I State Obligations and Rights Protected, Ch.IV Suspension of Guarantees, Interpretation, and Application, Art.30: Scope of Restrictions

This chapter reviews Article 30, which contains the general rules applicable to restrictions of rights and freedoms enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). The provision must be read and understood in light of the restriction rules provided by specific articles of the Convention, such as Article 11 (Right to Privacy) or Article 13 (Freedom of Thought and Expression). The Inter-American Court has considered that Article 30 cannot be understood as “a kind of general authorization to establish new restrictions to the rights protected by the Convention, additional to those permitted under the rules governing each one of these.” Instead, Article 30 aims at imposing “additional requirement to legitimize individually authorized restrictions.” Ultimately, conditions of legality, legitimacy, and necessity shall be met to restrict a right or a freedom protected by the ACHR.