国际法上的通信自由及其限制

Communication Freedom and Its Restrictions in International Law

通信是一个有着不同主体,处于不同领域,包括不同环节的交往行为系统。依其行为主体,国际法上的通信自由,可分为国家、国际组织和公民等三类主体的通信自由,它们分别受不同国际法律制度的保护和限制。依其所处领域,国际法上的通信自由,可分为私密领域的通信自由和公共领域的通信自由,前者应受国际法的严格保护,后者应受严格的国际法限制。依其所属环节,国际法上的通信自由,是一个由知情权和表达权构成的权利系统。对通信自由的保护和限制,不仅应当防止通信自由与其他权利之间的冲突,还应当注意通信自由内部两种权利之间的协调。现行国际法虽然确立了保护和限制通信自由的基本框架,但正面临着网络通信时代的诸多挑战,亟待进一步完善。

Communication is an interactive system, involving different fields and different links, with different subjects. From the point of communication subjects, communication freedom in International Law refers to communication freedom of nations, international organizations and citizens, which are protected and restricted by respective international legal systems. From the point of communication fields, communication freedom can be divided into freedom in private fields and public fields. The former ought to be protected heavily by international law and the latter should be subjected to severe restrictions. From the point of communication links, communication freedom in international law is a right system comprising right to know and right of expression. During the protection and restriction of communication freedom, we should not only avoid conflicts of communication freedom and other rights else, but also put emphasis on harmonizing two sorts of rights in communication freedom. The current international law has established basic framework of protection and restriction of communication freedom. However, it is faced with many challenges presented by the network communication era, and needs urgent further improvement.