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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUST 1991
to his client not to disclose
to third parties any info-
rmation
confidentially
revealed to him in his
capacity as a lawyer and
that duty continues after
the relationship of lawyer
and client has ceased".
Lord Chancellor Brougham
in
Greenhough -v- GasketI
(1833) explains
that the
fundamental importance of
this privilege
" i s out of regard to the
interests of justice, which
cannot be upholden, and to
the admi n i s t r a t i on of
justice, which cannot go on
without the aid of men
skilled in jurisprudence, in
the practice of the courts,
and in those matters
affecting rights and obliga-
tions wh i ch f o rm the
subject of all judicial
proceedings. If the privi-
lege did not exist at all,
every one would be thrown
upon his own legal
resources; deprived of all
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prejudicially affect the rights,
duties, obligations and
service Of Irish solicitors and
the
independence
and
integrity of Irish law itself. It
is significant that while the
commerical services of the
"Big 5 " accountants have
undoubtedly met the needs of
"If partners of the
multinational accountancy
firms were to become
partners of Irish
solicitors, it would not be
long before the financial
muscle of English,
European or American
influence could
prejudicially affect. . .
some sectors of commerce
and industry they are in-
creasingly failing to satisfy
the needs of individuals for
cost efficient services de-
livered with continuity of pro-
fessional personnel.
(v)
The Rights and Obliga-
tions of Confidentiality
To a greater or lesser degree
all professions have a duty to
maintain the privacy of their
client's communications to
them but the obligation upon
solicitors as with barristers is
absolute and confers an
absolute right upon the client.
Without the client's per-
mission, it would be a breach
of the duty of confidentiality
to disclose or discuss the
client's affairs with other
professionals within the MDP.
More importantly, subject to
certain well defined except-
ions, a solicitor cannot be
made to disclose confidential
information to the courts.
The obligations upon a
solicitor to keep his client's
communications confidential
is a fundamental principle and
part of the ethos of the Irish
solicitor.
Cordery on Solicitors, 8th
Edition, Page 11 states:-
"A lawyer is under a duty