The Professional Secret, Confidentiality and Legal Profession ...

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that it is a "secret" which has come to his knowledge in his
professional capacity. The Principles of Professional Conduct
(Grundsatze des anwaltlichen Standesrechts) promulgated by the
Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer in 1973 provide: "The obligation of
confidentiality goes beyond the statutory obligation of secrecy
and covers everything which is confided to the lawyer in the
exercise of his profession or which becomes known to him in the
course of the exercise of his profession, unless otherwise
determined by statute or by principles of jurisprudence.,,2 The
principal difference between Germany and the other five states
arises from the fact that correspondence between lawyers is not
in principle confidential (see above, para. C.2l). It follows
that information communicated by the opposing lawyer will not
normally be a 'secret' and may therefore be communicated to
the client and to the court.
1. §203 I StGB.
2. Art. 42.
(vi) Interception of letters and wire-tapping:
27. Apart from the general protection of the "rights of the defence"
mentioned above (para. CS), there appears to be no express
protection in any of the Six against duly authorised interception
of letters and wire-tapping related specifically to the
protection of the professional secret as such. Unauthorised
interception of letters, wire-tapping and other interference
with communications is the subject of extensive legislative
protection in all six states. The circumstances in which, the
extent to which and the methods by which, interception of letters
and wire-tapping may be authorised varies from state to state.
(vii) Conclusion
28. The fore-going analysis shows that, although "the professional secret" is
recognised /
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