Betænkning 601 om privatlivets fred - straffelovsrådet 1971 - Krim

original violation of the peace or privacy
of some other person, later procures
for himself or utilises the data or
pictures resulting from the violation;
(5) the proposal of changing the range of
penalties for violation of the peace or
privacy of others, extending at present
from a fine to simple detention, to include
imprisonment for any term not
exceeding six months (in the case of
industrial espionage, etc., imprisonment
for any term not exceeding four years);
(6) the proposal of rendering the penal provisions,
which so far have been liable to
private prosecution, liable to conditional
public prosecution (on condition
that the injured person requests prosecution.)
Chapter IX discusses the question of extending
the protection by way of compensatory
damages for moral injury. Under the
rule in force, that of section 15 of the
Commencement Act to the Criminal Code,
award of damages for non-pecuniary loss
92
suffered through a violation of privacy is
conditional upon the commission of a punishable
act. It follows that the injured person
may be awarded compensatory damages
only where an act that is covered by the
terms of a penal provision has been committed
and there has been the necessary criminal
intention on the part of the perpetrator.
As mentioned above in the reference to
Chapter VI, there is a need for a protection
under the law of liability extending beyond
the cases where criminal liability may be
imposed. The courts may already under the
law in force, on the basis of a general legal
principle, prohibit a particular act that is
deemed to violate the peace or privacy of
others. The Criminal Law Council recommends
a development of that system so that,
where an intentional or negligent violation
has already taken place, the injured person
becomes entitled to damages for the moral
injury inflicted thereby. In the less frequent
cases where the violation has resulted also
in a pecuniary loss, the provision for its
compensation through the general rules of
liability shall be maintained.