The Professional Secret, Confidentiality and Legal Profession ...

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every person who requires the advice and assistance of a
lawyer in order to vindicate his rights and liberty and,
second, to ensure the fair and proper administration of
justice. This cannot be achieved unless the relationship
between the lawyer and his client is a relationship of
confidence. 1 The rights, duties and privileges given to
lawyers are therefore an es~ential element in the protection
of individual liberty in a free society. They exist for the
public interest; they have not been created by lawyers for
their private benefit.
1. See quotations on first page.
3. In most of the member states, the law also protects from
disclosure information communicated to other persons, such
as doctors. But lawyers are the only category of private
professional persons upon whom such rights, duties and
privileges are conferred without exception in all the member
states. These rights, duties and privileges are therefore,
not only an essential feature of a free society, but also an
essential mark of distinction between those who are properly
qualified lawyers and those who are not. 1
1. The Swiss Federal Court has recently held
that the obligation of professional secrecy
is an essential feature of those professions
which enjoy a monopoly of 'consultation
juridique' in the Canton of St. Gall,and
therefore justifies that monopoly - Arret
du 27 fevrier 1974. French law equally
distinguishes between the obligations of the
'professions reglementees' and others ­
Dalloz, Repertoire, loco cit., §2l.
4. In all the member states, it is also recognised that written
correspondence and oral communications between lawyers acting
for different parties mu"St in certain circumstances be protected
from /
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