The constitutionality and legality of the measures that deal with the interception of communications

Abstract

Intercepting a person’s communication such as their telephone line is an act which is so intrusive it has been described as unnatural. This highly invasive technique started being used in recent decades as a knee jerk response to the technological advances, the sort of technological advances which made it easier for criminals to execute offences on a cross border international level. Although the act of interception is looked at with a certain loathsome attitude by society it is sometimes the only way in which police officials may combat certain ‘serious’ crimes. The problem starts when this invasive technique is used and abused in a way which results in the level of invasion to one’s privacy not remaining proportional to the seriousness of the crime it is trying to prevent. When this happens to the extent that it becomes accepted by society, it becomes a norm, and if it becomes a norm the right to privacy becomes valueless. The only way to prevent this from happening is to insert the necessary safeguards in the law.