The Right to the Secret of Correspondence and Its Legal Protection

Respecting the private life of man is one of the most prominent basic rights guaranteed by positive laws and divine laws, as it is a pillar of human dignity and individual freedom. This right includes preserving human secrets and not dispensing them without his/her explicit consent, or outside the framework of a legitimate and justified judicial order. The principle of correspondence is considered one of the most important applications of this right, as it includes all correspondence and communications between individuals, whether written, electronic, or even oral, as long as it relates to their privacy and they do not want to inform others. Private secrets are an integral part of private life, and they include all information or an incident related to a person and affects his/her interests, such as health data, family relationships, intellectual and religious inclinations, financial situation, and others. The law was approved to protect these secrets, stressing the necessity of preserving them and not being infringed, as Islamic law affirmed this principle through the prohibition of espionage and followed the nakedness of people, in respect of their humanity and the maintenance of their dignity. Accordingly, any violation of these secrets is a serious prejudice to the basic rights of man and requires legal accountability, as it is inconsistent with moral principles.