Freedom From Interference With Privacy, Family, and Home American Issue
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ICCPR Commodity 17 | Privacy legislation and institutions | Committee work | International scrutiny | More data | Comments
ICCPR Article 17
ICCPR Article 17 states:
- No one shall exist subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, dwelling or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.
- Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Privacy legislation and institutions
With the passage of the Privacy Human activity 1988, the Privacy Commissioner was initially a fellow member of the Commission. Functions in this area have since been enhanced with the development, first, of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and more recently the Function of the Australian Data Commissioner and an expanded range of legislation.
Committee work
The Privacy Commissioner takes the lead function on information privacy bug. Some other aspects of privacy however (including those which have been referred to as a "right to private life" are less clearly covered by the Privacy Human activity and the Commission has had a more substantial continuing role regarding these issues
- Submissions in Croome and Toonen five Tasmania (1996)
Criminalisation of consenting homosexual acts inconsistent with correct to privacy - Report by the Human Rights Commissioner on Sure Provisions of the Tasmanian Criminal Lawmaking (Word) orPDF
International scrutiny
Immature v Commonwealth of australia (2000)
In 1999, Mr Edward Young took a complaint confronting Commonwealth of australia to the Human Rights Committee. Under the and then electric current Australian veterans' entitlements laws, same-sex couples were not entitled to the same veterans pensions as opposite-sex activity couples.
The Committee institute (PDF) that Mr Immature had been discriminated confronting under Article 26 of the ICCPR and was entitled to an effective remedy, including the reconsideration of his alimony awarding.
Australia argued that Mr Young had not exhausted domestic remedies as he had not pursued his claim through the AAT or the courts. The Commission rejected this argument, noting that Australia had no court or tribunal with the capacity to overturn legislation on the grounds of it being in breach of man rights. The Committee reaffirmed its view that Article 26 includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.
The Committee noted that the Land party [Australia] is obliged to ensure that similar violations of the Covenant exercise not occur in the future.
Run into now Commission report on Same Sex: Same Entitlements and authorities response
Toonen v Australia (1994)
Rights considered: ICCPR articles 17, 26
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The Commission decided that sections 122 and 123 of the Tasmanian Criminal Code, which were regarded equally criminalising various forms of consenting adult in private, contravened the right to privacy. The Committee did not find it necessary to decide if Article 26 was also breached.
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Privacy engaged: The Committee stated that "it is undisputed that adult consensual sex in private is covered by the concept of privacy"
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Privacy interfered with: The Committee considered that the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code interfered with the complainants privacy however that they had non been enforced for a decade.
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Interference provided by constabulary: This requirement was conspicuously satisfied
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Arbitrary interference: The Australian Government conceded that the interference with privacy was arbitrary. The Tasmanian Government however submitted an opposing view. The Committee responded as follows:
While the State political party acknowledges that the impugned provisions constitute an arbitrary interference with Mr. Toonen's privacy, the Tasmanian authorities submit that the challenged laws are justified on public health and moral grounds, equally they are intended in office to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Tasmania, and because, in the absence of specific limitation clauses in article 17, moral issues must be deemed a matter for domestic decision.
Every bit far equally the public wellness argument of the Tasmanian regime is concerned, the Committee notes that the criminalization of homosexual practices cannot be considered a reasonable means or proportionate measure to attain the aim of preventing the spread of AIDS/HIV. The Government of Australia observes that statutes criminalizing homosexual activity tend to impede public health programmes "by driving hush-hush many of the people at the risk of infection". Criminalization of homosexual activity thus would appear to run counter to the implementation of effective education programmes in respect of the HIV/AIDS prevention. Secondly, the Committee notes that no link has been shown between the connected criminalization of homosexual activeness and the constructive control of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.
The Committee cannot accept either that for the purposes of commodity 17 of the Covenant, moral bug are exclusively a matter of domestic business organisation, as this would open the door to withdrawing from the Commission's scrutiny a potentially large number of statutes interfering with privacy. Information technology farther notes that with the exception of Tasmania, all laws criminalizing homosexuality have been repealed throughout Australia and that, even in Tasmania, it is apparent that in that location is no consensus as to whether sections 122 and 123 should not also be repealed. Considering farther that these provisions are not currently enforced, which implies that they are not deemed essential to the protection of morals in Tasmania, the Commission concludes that the provisions practice not run across the "reasonableness" test in the circumstances of the case, and that they arbitrarily interfere with Mr. Toonen's correct under commodity 17, paragraph i.
Response
- The Australian Government responded by enacting the Homo Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 (Cth) so as to render the offending Tasmanian provisions inoperative by virtue of department 109 of the Constitution.
More information
- Chaser Full general's Department Guidance Sheet
- Human Rights Commission General Comment 16:The correct to respect of privacy, family, dwelling and correspondence, and protection of honour and reputation
- ACT Human being Rights Commissioner factsheet (Word or PDF)
- Protecting the correct to respect for private and family unit life under the European Convention on Human Rights (PDF): European Court fact sheet 2012
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Source: https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/freedom-interference-privacy-family-home-and-correspondence-or#:~:text=ICCPR%20Article%2017%20states%3A,against%20such%20interference%20or%20attacks.
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