The Professional Secret, Confidentiality and Legal Profession ...

6. In none of the Six is the obligation of professional secrecy
THE U. K. :
imposed only upon lawyers. The law of the professional secret
makes no basic distinction between -
a secret entrusted to a person to whom the citizen turns
for help in a particular situation affecting his physical
or moral well-being - e.g., the lawyer, the doctor, or the
priest; and
a secret which the citizen is required by law to communicate
to persons in authority - e.g., the judge, the police or the
tax inspector.
In general, the obligation of secrecy is imposed upon any person
who, by reason of his office, status or profession, may become
the recipient of another person's secret. So too, the right to
refuse to give evidence is generally conferred upon those who are
bound by an obligation of secrecy.
7. In the UK, a basic distinction is made between -
8. /
"the official secret" - Le., information entrusted to persons
in authority; and
"legal professional privilege", which protects communications
to and by lawyers.
The law of official secrets is not unlike that of the professional
secret on the continent. 1 The law of legal professional privilege,
on the other hand, is derived from "case law" (i.e. law declared
by judges rather than law enacted by statute) and is part of the
law of evidence.
1. Compare, for example, the terms of Section
2(1) of the Official Secrets Act, 1911,
with those of the relevant Articles of
the continental Penal Codes.
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