Privacy of Communications and Correspondence

Privacy of Communications and Correspondence

      Section 3. (1) The privacy of communications and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law.

                        (2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.

   The right of privacy is a person's constitutional right to be free from unwarranted publicity, consistent with his right to live without unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned.

   This provision enlarges the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure by prohibiting the State to snoop on the people's right to communicate and correspond to one another. This prohibition is not absolute since this right to privacy of communications and correspondence is subject to the following exceptions:

      a. Upon lawful order of the court; or
      b. When public safety or order requires otherwise as provided by law

   The phrase "as provided by law" simply means  that the lawmaking power may later enact a law providing exceptions to the right of privacy not yet embraced within existing constitutional restrictions on the matter.

   Accordingly, it is now provided that any evidence obtained illegally in violation of safeguarding the privacy of communications and correspondence shall no longer be admissible in evidence for any purpose at any time in any proceeding before any court or any administrative body clothed with quasi-judicial power.


   This exclusionary rule of evidence is considered as the only practical way of enforcing constitutional guarantees. For remedies as may be provided by law do not always afford sufficient protection against their invasion, consistent with  the exigencies of their surrounding circumstances.