Cape Verde’s Constitution of 1999 (Lei Constitucional nº 1/V/99 de 23 de Novembro) with Amendments in: 2010 (Lei Constitucional nº 1/VII/2010 de 3 de Mai) (Official Bulletin (B.O.) Supplement, I Serie nº 17 of 3 May 2010, Rectified by the B.O. nº 28 of 26 July 2010, I Serie).
PART II.- FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
TITLE I.- GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 15 (Recognition of the inviolability of rights, liberties and guarantees)
- The State shall recognize as inviolable the rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution and shall guarantee their protection.
- All public authorities shall have the duty to respect and to guarantee the free exercise of rights and liberties and the fulfillment of constitutional or legal duties.
TITLE II.- RIGHTS, LIBERTIES AND GUARANTEES
CHAPTER I.- ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, LIBERTIES AND GUARANTEES
Article 29.- (Right to freedom)
- The right to freedom shall be inviolable.
- Personal freedoms, of thought, of expression, and of information, of association, of religion, of worship, of intellectual, artistic and cultural creation, of demonstration and the remaining freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, in general or conventional international law, received in the domestic legal order, and in the laws, shall be guaranteed.
- No one may be forced to declare his or her ideology, religion or cult, political or trade union affiliation.
Article 41 (The right to identity, to personality, to a good name, to an image and to privacy)
- Everyone shall be guaranteed the rights to personal identity, to the development of his or her personality and to civil capacity, which may only be limited by judicial decision and in cases and under terms established in the law.
- Every citizen shall have the right to a good name, to honor and reputation, to an image and privacy in his or her personal and family life.
Article 44 (Inviolability of correspondence and telecommunications)
The secrecy of correspondence and of telecommunications shall be guaranteed, except in cases in which, by judicial decision rendered under the law of criminal proceedings, interference, by public authorities, with correspondence and telecommunications is allowed.
Article 45 (Use of computer resources and protection of personal data)
1. All citizens shall have the right of access to computerized data relating to them, and may demand the correctin and updating thereof. They shall also have the right to know the purposes for which the data will be used, under the terms of the law.
2. The use of computerized media shall be prohibited for the logging and processing of individually identifiable data related to political, philosophical or ideological convictions, to religious faith, to party or trade union affiliation or to private life except:
a) With the express consent of the person whom the data concern;
b) With prior authorization foreseen by law and guarantees of non-discrimination;
c) When the purpose of the statistical data processing is not individually identifiable.
3. The law shall regulate the protection of personal data in computer registers, the conditions of access to data banks, of the format and of use by public authorities and private entities of such banks or of computer supports of same.
4. Access to data bases or computerized archives, files and récords for obtaining data personal data related to third parties, as well as the transfer of personal data from one computerized file to another pertaining to different services or institutions, shall be prohibited except in cases established by law or by judicial decision.
5. Under no circumstance shall a unique number be assigned to citizens.
6. Everyone shall be guaranteed access to computer networks of public use, defining the law or regime applicable to the flow of trans-border data and the forms of protection of personal data and of others whose safeguard is justified by reasons of national interest, as well as the regime of limitation of access, for defending the juridical values safeguarded by the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 48.
7. Personal data held in manual filing systems shall have exactly the same protection foreseen contemplated in the previous paragraphs, under the terms of the law.
Article 46 (Habeas data)
- Habeas data shall be granted to every citizen in order to ensure his or her knowledge of information stored in files, file folders or a computerized register concerning him or her, and also that he or she may be informed of its purpose and may demand the correcting or updating of the data.
- The law shall regulate the procedure of habeas data
Article 48 (Freedoms of expression and of information)
1. Everyone shall have the freedom to express and to disseminate his or her ideas in word, image or by any other means, and no one may be subjected to discomfort, on account of his or her political, philosophical, religious or other opinions.
2. Everyone shall have the freedom to inform and to be informed, procuring receiving and disseminating information and ideas in any form, without limitations, discrimination or impediments.
3. Limitations in the exercise of these freedoms, of any kind or form of censorship, shall be prohibited.
4. The freedoms of expression and of information shall have as limits the right to honor and to consideration for people, the right to a good name, to image and to privacy of personal and family life.
5. Freedom of expression and of information shall also be limited:
a) By the duty of protection of children and youth;
b) By the prohibition of advocacy of violence, pedophilia, racism, xenophobia and of any form of discrimination, particularly against women;
c) By the banning of the dissemination of appeals for the practice of the acts referred to in the previous subparagraph.
6. Offences committed in the exercise of freedom of expression and of information shall entail civil, disciplinary and criminal responsibility of the violator, under the terms of the law.
7. All natural or legal persons, on conditions of equality and efficacy, shall have the right of reply and of correction, as well as the right of compensation for damages suffered, as a result of offences committed in the exercise of freedom of expression and information.
Article 54 (Freedom of intellectual, artistic and cultural creation)
- The intellectual, cultural and scientific creation, as well as the dissemination of literary, artistic and scientific works shall be free.
- The law shall guarantee the protection of copyrights.