Understanding Rights: Home Inviolability, Honor, and Privacy
Item 37: Inviolability of the Home, Honor, Privacy, and Self-Image
Inviolability of the Home
Background: This right has traditionally been founded on the freedom of the individual and predates police detention. Nowadays, the basis is not only freedom but also private lives. The holders of this right are both natural persons and legal entities.
Content of the Right: This prohibits entry or registration in a home unless there is:
- Owner’s consent
- Authorization by court order
- Flagrant case of crime
All evidence obtained in breach of the inviolability of the home and secrecy of communications is null and void.
Suspension of These Rights: The inviolability of the home and the secrecy of communications may be suspended in a state of emergency and under siege. There is also parliamentary scrutiny and judicial intervention in cases of belonging to armed gangs and terrorists.
Concept of Domicile for Constitutional Purposes: This is where you develop your privacy, including the usual residence and the occasional (hotel room, van, boat). For a legal entity, the address is:
- Where its headquarters is
- Any unit which operates privately (meetings)
Right to Honor, Privacy, and Self-Image
We can define honor as the social esteem or consideration that a person has.
As for the right to privacy, it can be defined as the right to exclude third parties from knowledge of areas reserved for personal and/or family life.
Finally, we have the right to self-image, which is the right of an individual to not have their image and voice used without their consent, whether or not for profit.
Ownership of These Rights
The holders of these rights are individuals. The Constitutional Court (TC) said that the right to personal and family privacy will only be accessible to individuals, while legal persons also possess the right to honor. All these rights are highly personal in nature, attached to the person from birth until they die.
Requirements for Protection
- When no interference is legitimate
- When the law is violated
In the case of minors and disabled individuals, they give consent themselves if they have sufficient maturity; otherwise, their representative will give consent. Consent is brought to the attention of the prosecution, which has a period of 8 days to object. If it precludes the courts, they shall decide.
Protection Procedures
Right of Rectification: The right to correct inaccurate information that harms a person’s honor. This mainly affects the right to honor, as the right to information also includes the right to accurate information. Once you perform the correction, this need not be entirely true but must give the holder the opportunity to make a different version of events. It is regulated by LO 2/1984 and consists of the person concerned having a term of 7 days to request the director of the media in question to rectify the information under the terms also requested within 3 days. If, after this period, the news has not been rectified or not done in the terms sought, the affected party shall, within 7 days, go before the judge of first instance, where the judge will have another 7 days to resolve, and rectification should occur in 3 days.
Constitutional Protection (Amparo)
Civil Protection: This is the cessation of unlawful interference and compensation for damage, which will be more substantial in the case of public figures.
Criminal Protection: Consists of the crimes of burglary, revealing secrets, libel, and slander.