Criminal Liability for the Violation of Privacy of Correspondence and Communications through Information and Communication Technology in Yemeni and Comparative Law

A review of Yemeni legal provisions reveals that the Yemeni legislator has given particular attention to the protection of private life, including the right to the privacy of correspondence and communications, considering these rights as inherent to the human person and having a significant impact on life at both the individual and collective levels. Accordingly, the Constitution affirmed this right, and the criminal legislation addressed this by imposing penalties on anyone who violates private life in all its aspects, including the privacy of correspondence and communications.

However, the Yemeni legislator continues to address violations of private life committed through information and communication technologies based on traditional legislation, which suffers from shortcomings in its formulation. Furthermore, unlike other legislators, the Yemeni legislator has neither amended nor supplemented traditional laws nor enacted a specialized law. The shortcomings have even reached the point where the non-competent authority—the executive branch—issued the Crimes and Penalties Law and the Criminal Procedure Law by decree in 1994. Consequently, in the absence of specialized legislation, the judiciary is compelled to rely on its discretionary authority to address emerging violations of the privacy of correspondence and communications, while comparative legal systems have advanced through multiple stages in protecting private life.