The Professional Secret, Confidentiality and Legal Profession ...

most exceptional cases in accordance with the dictates
of his own conscience; neither the Batonnier, nor the
Council of his Order, have any authority to dictate the
attitude which he must adopt."6
A Lawyer may reveal a secret in order to defend himself against
an unjustified accusation.
1.
Cass.
Cass. CP Cass. 2. 458.
222 15 26 fev. mars For Sept. 1966. 1905. text, 1948. 1926. see footnote to para. C.l.
3.
4.
5 •
6. Nyssens, Introduction a la Vie du Barreau,
2nd edition (1974), published by L'Ordre des
Avocats a la Cour d'Appel de Bruxelles, §63.
9. The law of LUXEMBOURG is substantially the same as the law of Belgium,
since the terms of their respective Penal Codes are identical.
10. In ITALY, the Penal Code provides that it is an offence to reveal
a professional secret "without justifiable cause" (senza giusta causa)
and imposes a penalty only "if damage may result" (se dal fatto pUG
derivare nocumento).l "Damage" in this context means "any prejudice
which is juridically significant, whether it is prejudice of a
patrimonial nature or simply moral".2 The words "without justifiable
cause" have given rise to much discussion and have been described as a
'fountain of uncertainties,.3 It has been suggested that "justifiable
cause" exists where disclosure is "effectively inevitab1e".4 The
lawyer is protected against being required to give evidence, in
criminal cases, by the Code of Criminal Procedure and, in civil cases,
by a law of 1933.5 The Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the
following cannot be obliged to give evidence "on what was confided to
them or came to their knowledge by reason of their ministry, office
or profession": - (1) ministers of religion, (2) 'avvocati',
procuratori', 'consu1enti tecnici' and notaries, and (3) doctors and
other members of the medical profession. The Code goes on to provide
that, where the prosecuting authority has reason to doubt whether the
refusal /
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