本文從民主社會應如何監督政府通訊監察行為出發，檢視歐洲人權法院的相關判決，並與美國相關爭議比較，以探究歐美通訊監察法制爭議之發展趨勢，對我國有何啟示，藉此探討通訊監察法制應有的民主監督形貌。本文認為：歐洲人權法院在資訊隱私權領域已累積豐富的判決，往往決定締約國通訊監察或監控法制的改革。值得注意的是，歐洲人權法院在適用歐洲人權公約第8條規定時，經常把重點放在「依法」的解釋與分析上，而非「民主社會所必需」要件。此一趨勢可能導致締約國僅以內國立法表面回應，民主社會所需的資訊隱私保護架構仍有改進空間。

Pursuing an inquiry into how a democratic society is supposed to monitor government surveillance, this essay examines the attitude of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) towards litigation de-rived from laws on surveillance in European nations, and juxtaposes the findings with relevant disputes in the United States; the purpose of this inquiry is to explore how these traditions might shed light on the situation in Taiwan and how the landscape of democratic supervision is to be shaped under modern surveillance law. This essay argues that the European judiciary is well-experienced in the realm of informa-tional privacy, and that reforms to surveillance law in European na-tions is generally determined by ECtHR case-law. Of particular sig-nificance is the emphasis that the ECtHR lays on the interpretation and analysis of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), specifically the focus on the notion “in accordance with the law” rather than “necessary in a democratic society.” Such tendency might lead to the fact that the State Parties to the ECHR are merely willing to introduce domestic legislation. Accordingly, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the protective framework of informational privacy essential for a democratic society.