Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles, 1993, Articles 20, 22 & 28 (Right to privacy, freedom of expression and access to official information)

Articles 20, 22 and 28 of the 1993 Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles together provide an unusually full constitutional foundation for digital rights. Article 20 guarantees the right to privacy, providing that every person has the right not to be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, family life and correspondence, language that, by naming correspondence, extends to electronic and digital communications. Article 22 guarantees freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. Article 28 is notable for constitutionalising access to information: it confers a right of access to information held by a public authority performing a governmental function, together with a right to request correction of inaccurate information, subject to limitations prescribed by law for purposes such as national security and law enforcement. For the Digital Rights collection these provisions satisfy the inclusion bar on the first limb: Article 20 contains express communications-privacy (correspondence) language and Article 28 expressly constitutionalises access to information, a stronger textual basis than most regional peers. Seychelles' Access to Information Act 2018 was enacted specifically to give effect to Article 28, and the Data Protection Act 2023 and the Cybercrimes and Other Related Crimes Act 2021 operate against this constitutional backdrop. Digital-context constitutional case law remains limited, so inclusion rests principally on textual specificity rather than on a body of decided digital cases. The oversight position is comparatively favourable but should not be overstated. Seychelles has an Information Commission established under the Access to Information Act to oversee the right of access, and a relatively strong regional record on press freedom; constitutional rights are enforceable before the Constitutional Court (a sitting of the Supreme Court). Nonetheless, the rights are subject to law-prescribed limitations, and implementation of the access regime has faced practical difficulties. This entry is a constitutional provision recorded as an Act with its constitutional character made explicit. It is cross-referenced to Seychelles' cybercrime statute and underpins the Access to Information Act 2018 and the Data Protection Act 2023.

1. 1Article 20 protects privacy of home, family life and correspondence, extending to electronic and digital communications
2. 2Article 22 guarantees freedom of expression, including freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference
3. 3Article 28 constitutionalises a right of access to information held by public authorities, plus a right to correct inaccurate information
4. 4Article 28 is given effect by the Access to Information Act 2018, overseen by an Information Commission
5. 5Rights enforceable before the Constitutional Court; subject to law-prescribed limitations (national security, law enforcement)
6. 6Inclusion justified on limb (a): express correspondence-privacy and constitutional access-to-information language; limited digital case law