Civil Liberties I (Freedom, Life, Liberty, Privacy)

The reader is introduced to the design of constitutional civil liberties clauses relating to the general freedom to act, the right to life, physical and mental integrity, the right to liberty and security the right to privacy and the right to data protection. General freedom of action is an emanation of human dignity and the free development of the personality; at times referred to as the incarnation of liberty, however, not often expressly implemented in constitutions. The right to life and the protection of physical and mental integrity are the most prominent examples of the emanations of human dignity. Topical issues such as the abolition of the death penalty, abortion, assisted suicide and others are also addressed in the chapter. The right to liberty and security is one of the oldest human rights guarantees, originating in the principle of “habeas corpus”. Procedural guarantees as contained in human rights conventions should explicitly be incorporated into constitutional texts, as many constitutions do. The right to privacy is defined as the protection of the personality in its physical and psychological existence for oneself and for others. It includes the right to private life, personal identity, honour and reputation, family life, inviolability of the home and communications. The chapter concludes with the right to data protection as an important and fast developing feature in a modern society. All data collection and storage must be supervised by a competent and independent authority.