The correspondence rights clause in the current Chinese Constitution presents a two-tiered structure,which creates constitutional protection not in the form of simple and aggravated legal reserva-tions,but in the form of general and special constitutional protection.Freedom of correspondence and confidentiality of correspondence are intertwined and inseparable in content and,as a whole,they are both important means of realizing the freedom of expression and embodying the State's respect for and protection of citizens'right to privacy.Affirmative general constitutional protection and prohibitive spe-cial constitutional protection are with different functional focus,and provide graded and dynamic protec-tion for the freedom and confidentiality of correspondence.Prohibitive special constitutional protection is directed against forms of interference with correspondence rights that are invasive in nature.The Consti-tution establishes three legal conditions of correspondence examination in relation to the typical form of interference,which constitute a relative prohibition.In the constitutional review of other means of inter-ference with correspondence rights,the three legal conditions of correspondence examination are of refer-ence value.For the more serious forms of interference in correspondence rights,a review standard no less strict than the three legal conditions of correspondence examination should be set,and for the rela-tively moderate forms of interference,a standard of constitutional protection no less strict than"protec-tion by law"should be applied.
correspondence rightsfreedom of correspondenceconfidentiality of correspondencele-gal reservationconstitutional review
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维普
