Privacy remains protected even when a letter is within reach.
Article 10 of the Basic Law protects confidential communication against state interference. For conduct between private individuals, section 202 of the Criminal Code is particularly relevant: a sealed letter not intended for one’s knowledge must not be opened without authority. The two provisions have different functions.
Living in the same household or receiving misdelivered mail does not itself create permission to read it. Curiosity is not the addressee’s consent. Express permission to open a particular letter is a different situation from the unauthorised conduct in the question.
The other three answers
The similar-sounding terms concern different situations.
the right to remain silent
The right to remain silent concerns, in particular, an accused person’s ability not to answer questions about the allegation. It is not the term for protecting someone else’s letter.
professional confidentiality
A duty of confidentiality requires certain people to keep entrusted information confidential. The question asks about protection of the letter itself.
freedom of speech
Freedom of expression protects expressing opinions. It does not provide general permission to open other people’s sealed letters.
The short question does not replace checking the legal elements.
Section 202 depends, among other things, on the letter being sealed, who is meant to know its contents and the absence of authority. Accidental opening or valid permission must not simply be equated with the deliberate unauthorised conduct described.
Article 10 also protects postal and telecommunications privacy. That does not mean every digital message falls under exactly the same criminal provision as a paper letter. This question concerns a letter; automatically applying the same rules to every digital case would be too broad.
Article 10 · Correspondence · Basic Law ↗Another person’s sealed letter: respect correspondence privacy.
Distinguish the right to remain silent, a duty of confidentiality and the protection of a message.
Three words for this question
- der Umschlagenvelope
- The covering in which a letter is sent.
- unbefugtwithout authority
- Without the required permission or legal authority.
- adressiertaddressed
- Marked to identify whom an item of mail is intended for.