Pursuant to the State Administration Council ("SAC") Law Number 03/2021, some provisions of the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law were amended. The amended provisions require all residents to inform their township or ward administrators if they have overnight guests from other wards or townships, and if there are people in their residence who are not listed in the household documents. They also need to inform their township or ward administrators when such guests depart from the ward or township. This had long been practiced under the previous military administrations, which was only recently abolished under the NLD-led government.
Furthermore, SAC has enacted Law Number 04/2021, which effectively suspended Sections 5, 7, and 8 of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens ("Privacy Law"). These provisions of the Privacy Law are set out below.
Section 5 – The relevant authorities shall (i) ensure that there is no damage to the privacy and security of citizens except when being done so in accordance with the law, and (ii) only enter a person’s residence or premises, accompanied by a minimum of two witnesses comprising ward or village administrators, for the purposes of search, seizure, or arrest.
Section 7 – No one shall be detained for more than 24 hours without permission from court.
Section 8 – In the absence of an order, permission, or warrant issued in accordance with the existing law, or permission from the Union President or the Union Cabinet, a responsible authority shall not do the following:
- enter a person's residence or premises for the purposes of search, seizure, or arrest;
- surveil, spy upon, or investigate in any way which could disturb their privacy and security or affect their dignity;
- intercept or disturb any citizen's communications;
- demand or obtain telephonic and electronic communication data from telecommunication operators;
- open, search, seize, or destroy another person's correspondence, envelope, package, or parcel;
- unlawfully interfere with a citizen's personal or family matters or act in any way to slander or harm their reputation; and
- unlawfully seize the lawfully owned movable or immovable property of a citizen, or intentionally destroy either by direct or indirect means.
The suspension of the above-mentioned provisions has given the authorities broad powers to act in a way which breaches the privacy and security of citizens. Due to the suspension of Section 5, the presence of two witnesses is no longer required when authorities enter a person's premises. The suspension of Section 7 has given the authorities the right to detain persons indefinitely without cause. Lastly, the suspension of Section 8 allows the authorities to act freely to interfere with the private life of a citizen, such as arresting without warrants, intercepting communications, or seizing and destroying a person’s private property.
