Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992, Article 18(2) (Privacy of correspondence and communication)

Article 18(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana 1992 protects privacy and, relevantly for digital rights, expressly names the privacy of communications: 'No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law and as may be necessary in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.' The 1992 Constitution was approved by referendum in April 1992 and came into force on 7 January 1993. This provision is included in the Digital Rights library on the basis of the inclusion test's second limb: it contains specific language addressing the privacy of communications (protecting 'correspondence or communication'), as distinct from a bare or generic privacy or free-speech clause. The inclusion is, however, transparently noted as resting principally on this textual specificity and on the provision's clear data-protection nexus, rather than on a prominent, stand-alone digital-context constitutional judgment of the kind available for South Africa (AmaBhungane) or Kenya (CORD; the Device Management System litigation). Reviewers may wish to weigh that distinction. The clause is internally limited: interference with the privacy of correspondence or communication is permissible only where it is in accordance with law and necessary in a free and democratic society for one of the enumerated aims (public safety, the economic well-being of the country, the protection of health or morals, the prevention of disorder or crime, or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others). This proportionality structure is the constitutional standard against which surveillance, interception and data-handling measures fall to be assessed. Article 18(2) is the express constitutional foundation of Ghana's data-protection regime: the Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843) was enacted to give meaning to the privacy guarantee in a digital society, and the clause also informs the privacy implications of the Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038) and the Electronic Transactions Act 2008. Read together with the freedom of expression and right-to-information guarantees in Article 21, Article 18(2) supplies the privacy pillar of Ghana's constitutional digital-rights framework.

1. 1Article 18(2): 'No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law and as may be necessary in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.'
2. 2Expressly protects the privacy of 'correspondence or communication', the textual basis for limits on interception, monitoring and surveillance.
3. 3Contains an internal limitation clause requiring that any interference be in accordance with law and necessary in a free and democratic society for specified legitimate aims.
4. 4The Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843) was enacted to give effect to Article 18(2) in a digital society.
5. 5Read with the freedom of speech and information guarantees in Article 21, it underpins Ghana's constitutional framework for privacy and digital rights.