Criminal Code 2011, Violation of Privacy (unlawful eavesdropping, surveillance, and breach of privacy of messages)
Criminal Code 2011, 31 MIRC Ch. 1, sec. 250.12
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 17 October 2011.
A comprehensive regime rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not trespass on property, or install a hidden device, with intent to eavesdrop on, observe, photograph, or record sounds or events in a private place, without the consent of the person entitled to privacy there.
- Do not install or use, outside a private place, a device that hears, records, amplifies, or broadcasts sounds originating in that place that would not ordinarily be audible or comprehensible outside, without the consent of the person entitled to privacy there.
- Do not knowingly intercept a telephone, telegraph, facsimile, electronic-mail, letter, or other private communication without the consent of the sender or the receiver.
- A violation is a misdemeanour, punishable under the Code's general sentencing provisions by a fine of up to $1,000 and imprisonment for a term, fixed by the court, of up to one year.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 250.12 is a misdemeanour; the Code's general sentencing provisions cap a misdemeanour's fine at $1,000 (sec. 6.03(1)(c)) and its term of imprisonment, as fixed by the court, at one year (sec. 6.08).
Penalty structure
Section 250.12 states no penalty of its own. The Code's general provisions for a misdemeanour conviction set the cap: a fine not exceeding $1,000 (sec. 6.03(1)(c)) and a definite term of imprisonment, fixed by the court, not exceeding one year (sec. 6.08).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 1,000
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 250.12(1) makes it a misdemeanour, except as authorized by law, to trespass on property with intent to subject anyone to eavesdropping or other surveillance in a private place, to install in a private place, without the consent of the person entitled to privacy there, a device for observing, photographing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events, or to install or use outside a private place a device for hearing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds originating in that place that would not ordinarily be audible or comprehensible outside, again without that person's consent.
Section 250.12(2) separately makes it a misdemeanour to knowingly intercept, without the consent of the sender or receiver, a message by telephone, telegraph, facsimile, electronic mail, letter, or other means of communicating privately, an offence that does not extend to overhearing a message through a regularly installed telephone party line or extension, or to an interception by the telephone company or a subscriber incident to enforcing regulations that limit use of the facilities.
The section states no penalty of its own; a misdemeanour under the Code's general sentencing provisions carries a fine of up to $1,000 and a definite term of imprisonment, fixed by the court, of up to one year.
When LexLint raises it
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