Article 12: Right to privacy
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Definitions of the right to privacy
The right to privacy is
enshrined in
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The right is enshrined in Articles 14 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Article 14
1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the
determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and
obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public
hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for
reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or national security in a
democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the parties so
requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in
special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice;
but any judgement rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at law shall be made
public except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the
proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.
2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed
innocent until proved guilty according to law.
3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be
entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality: (a) To be
informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the
nature and cause of the charge against him;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and
to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through
legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal
assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any
case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any
such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the
attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions
as witnesses against him;
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or
speak the language used in court;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
4. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take
account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
5. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and
sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.
6. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence
and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned
on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there
has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a
result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is
proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly
attributable to him.
7. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for
which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the
law and penal procedure of each country.
Article 17
1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour
and reputation.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
In its General Comments No 16 of 1988, the Human Rights Committee comments on the right to privacy: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/comments.htm.
It is contained in Articles 16 and 40 in the Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 16
1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his
or her honour and reputation.
2. The child has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
Article 40
1. States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or
recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner
consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth, which
reinforces the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of
others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of
promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive
role in society.
2. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of international
instruments, States Parties shall, in particular, ensure that:
(a) No child shall be alleged as, be accused of, or recognized as having
infringed the penal law by reason of acts or omissions that were not prohibited
by national or international law at the time they were committed;
(b) Every child alleged as or accused of having infringed the penal law has at
least the following guarantees:
(i) To be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law;
(ii) To be informed promptly and directly of the charges against him or her,
and, if appropriate, through his or her parents or legal guardians, and to have
legal or other appropriate assistance in the preparation and presentation of
his or her defence;
(iii) To have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent
and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law, in
the presence of legal or other appropriate assistance and, unless it is
considered not to be in the best interest of the child, in particular, taking
into account his or her age or situation, his or her parents or legal
guardians;
(iv) Not to be compelled to give testimony or to confess guilt; to examine or
have examined adverse witnesses and to obtain the participation and examination
of witnesses on his or her behalf under conditions of equality;
(v) If considered to have infringed the penal law, to have this decision and
any measures imposed in consequence thereof reviewed by a higher competent,
independent and impartial authority or judicial body according to law;
(vi) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if the child cannot
understand or speak the language used;
(vii) To have his or her privacy fully respected at all stages of the
proceedings.
3. States Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures,
authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as,
accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, and, in
particular:
(a) The establishment of a minimum age below which children shall be presumed
not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law;
(b) Whenever appropriate and desirable, measures for dealing with such children
without resorting to judicial proceedings, providing that human rights and
legal safeguards are fully respected. 4. A variety of dispositions, such as
care, guidance and supervision orders; counselling; probation; foster care;
education and vocational training programmes and other alternatives to
institutional care shall be available to ensure that children are dealt with in
a manner appropriate to their well-being and proportionate both to their
circumstances and the offence.
The right is also containd in Article 14 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families:
No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home, correspondence or other communications, or to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation. Each migrant worker and member of his or her family shall have the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities contains this right in Article 22:
1. No person with disabilities,
regardless of place of residence or living arrangements, shall be subjected to
arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or
correspondence or other types of communication or to unlawful attacks on his or
her honour and reputation. Persons with disabilities have the right to the
protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
2. States Parties shall protect the privacy of personal, health and rehabilitation
information of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
The right is also contained in Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights:
Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.