Fundamental Law of Equatorial Guinea (1991, rev. 2012), Inviolability of correspondence and freedom of expression

The Fundamental Law of Equatorial Guinea (the Constitution originally of 1991, substantially revised in 2012) sets out the country's bill of rights. It guarantees the inviolability of the home and the privacy of all correspondence, and it guarantees freedom of expression, of assembly and of association. These provisions furnish the constitutional foundation for the protection of private communications and of expression, including online, and form the backdrop to Personal Data Protection Law No. 1/2016 and to the cybercrime and social-media bill advancing through the legislature. The guarantees are not digital-specific: they protect 'correspondence' and expression in general terms, with no express reference to the internet, electronic communications or personal-data processing, and there is no constitutional case law applying them to the digital sphere; the precise article numbering should be verified by a reviewer against the official text. This entry is recorded in line with the Library's established practice of capturing the constitutional privacy-and-expression layer for each jurisdiction; that basis, and the article-numbering point, are flagged for the reviewer. The practical significance of these constitutional guarantees is widely regarded as minimal: international monitors document that freedom of expression, assembly and association, including online, are routinely suppressed in Equatorial Guinea, and the State has imposed internet and social-media restrictions during sensitive political periods. Original language: Spanish (official).

1. 1Guarantees the inviolability of the home and the privacy of all correspondence
2. 2Guarantees freedom of expression, assembly and association
3. 3Constitutional backdrop to Data Protection Law No. 1/2016 and the pending cybercrime / social-media bill
4. 4Not digital-specific; article numbering and adoption dates to be verified; included per the Library's cross-jurisdiction practice (flagged for reviewer)
5. 5Practical force widely regarded as minimal amid documented suppression of expression and online restrictions