The greatest aspect of any democratic or civilised court is that the rules are made in such a way that the whole system is there to make sure that even if ten guilty walk free, no innocent must be prosecuted!
The root of the whole system then is the attorney client privilege!
The attorney client privilege is a crown jewel of the legal profession.
Attorney client relationship refers to the disclosure of potential sensitive information from clients to their attorney and law requires that an attorney does not reveal or disclose such information or communication between them to any third party.
The Act in many countries lays down some exceptions like a communication made in the furtherance of any illegal purpose; and any fact observed by an attorney in the course of his or her employment that shows a crime or fraud has been committed since the start of his or her employment!
Of course that definition and exception is the legal jargon which is often misused! Imagine that a client has committed the crime and then he or she mentions this to the lawyer! The lawyer now is actually bound by the attorney client privilege to keep it as a secret or else he or she would lose his or her license to practice!
In the novel “The Firm by John Grisham” this was the greatest irony faced by the lawyer who finds out that the Firm he is working for is actually a money laundering center for the mafia! The issue here is that although the right thing to do is to report them at the cost of his life or safety to the FBI and lose his license to practice or keep his and his conscience silenced!
The origins of attorney–client privilege trace back to medieval England, where the king presided over trials and relied on attorneys to present cases. Because attorneys were considered officers of the court, they were expected to fully disclose all relevant information. However, as legal representation evolved, courts recognized that forcing attorneys to reveal client confidences undermined justice. This led to a principle that even the king could not compel an attorney to disclose privileged communications!
Now, remember that if you are the client, it is your privilege. You can break it at any time either by assertively waiving it, or by talking about what you talked about with your attorney to anyone else, in front of anyone else, or publicly!
Many professions in fact have such attorney client privileges!
This includes the medical profession also. Which is why you absolutely cannot disclose any details of the diagnosis or findings of any patient to anyone, forget posting it on social media unless you get a formal permission from either the patient or his or her guardian!
Of course if you make sure to hide the identity of the patient and only present the important clinical finding then that is still valid! But before you place anything else on the net for everyone to see, make sure you know the attorney client privilege! Since here the privilege is of the client and not of the attorney or the professional!
Finally you as a professional also have the right to reject a client which is your professional right! Most of course do not use this right though since privilege comes with responsibility while art comes with no boundary!
A speck of colour on a black and white sketch on world art day! The skin tone has been added by the iPhone camera…
Now use your privilege as a human and sleep!
SHubh ratri!
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