RIGHT TO PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE - KNOW YOUR RIGHTS



Right to private and family life is provided under section 37 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. The section provides that:
          The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.

By this provision, a learned and distinguished commentator has said that this right is “a recognition of the saying that a man’s home is his castle”. This right guarantees the security agencies should not tap ones telephone lines or subject one’s house to unwarranted search
or his property to seizure. Notwithstanding this noble constitutional safeguard, reports of the seizure of citizen’s mail and correspondence, invasion of their offices and homes do continually occur in this country. The most potent factor of interference remains police powers of entry into home in the course of arrest of a suspected criminal or investigation of criminal matters. But be that as it may, the relevant law enjoins the police to obtain a search warrant and so that the provision is observed more in breach than in observance. Therefore, every one has the right to enjoy his or her family life and its privacy without interference by external bodies.

          It should also be noted that the to private and family life may be derogated in the overwhelming interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality or public health or for the purpose of protecting the right and freedom of the other persons as enacted in section 45 (1) (a) and (b) of the 1999 constitution. In
OLMSTEAD V. U. S, it was held that evidence obtained by wire tapping of telephone on a criminal prosecution is admissible. The above decision of the court was informed by the fact that the wire tapping of telephone which was a violation of a person’s right to private and family life was justified because it was done to enhance criminal prosecution which affects the public. In the same vein, it was held in COX BROADCASTING CORPORATION V. COHN, by the supreme court of united states, that it was not actionable as pre private life for a mass medium to publish the name of a rape victim because according to DOUGLAS, J. “there is no power on the part of government to suppress or penalize the publication of “news of the day”.


RELATED INFORMATION
Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - Unknown

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE