Does Ireland have "client confidentiality"?

DeVore

Probably a silly question but if someone walks into your office and says "I stole a car" or "I sold my passport to a guy named Abdul" ... are you (solicitors) required to report it to the police?

What if it did come to trial and he says "I want you to plead not guilty for me, even though I totally did it"?

Just curious....

ThreeLineWhip

If they are a client then yes, you would have to keep their secrets.

Note you cannot suborn perjury i.e. tell him to plead not guilty when you know that to be a lie.

irishinvestor

How does one incorporate in Ireland?

Tom Young

One reads the Charter. One realises that one can't seek legal advice here.

One calls a solicitor/lawyer, then one asks the question.

irishinvestor

Tom Young wrote: »

One reads the Charter. One realises that one can't seek legal advice here.

One calls a solicitor/lawyer, then one asks the question.

Process question not legal advice.


Simple forms question.......

johnnyskeleton

DeVore wrote: »

Probably a silly question but if someone walks into your office and says "I stole a car" or "I sold my passport to a guy named Abdul" ... are you (solicitors) required to report it to the police?

Although there is an old offence of misprision of a felony it is not clear if it still exists. There is also a duty to report suspicious financial transactions (which duty extends to solicitors eg helping with the purchase of property). But other than that, no one is required to report a crime. The situation is different if you mislead an investigation.

As regards solicitors, anything said for the purposes of obtaining legal advice or in contemplation of litigation is covered by legal professional privilege. This privilege can be waved by, for example, waiver by the client.

The above is just a general guide, the specifics are much more complex than that.

What if it did come to trial and he says "I want you to plead not guilty for me, even though I totally did it"?

Just curious....

"I totally did it" is not the same as "I accept moral and legal culpability for my actions. Solicitors can represent the client in such circumstances but can't put forward an untrue version of events as a possibility before the court. They can test the proofs and make legal submissions eg that what they did does not meet the requirements of the offence.

irishinvestor

DeVore wrote: »

Probably a silly question but if someone walks into your office and says "I stole a car" or "I sold my passport to a guy named Abdul" ... are you (solicitors) required to report it to the police?

What if it did come to trial and he says "I want you to plead not guilty for me, even though I totally did it"?

Just curious....

Funny, this sounds like a legal question but nobody complained on this.

Corkbah

irishinvestor wrote: »

Funny, this sounds like a legal question but nobody complained on this.

legal question is fine (asking for opinion)... asking for legal advice is a big no-no.

irishinvestor

Corkbah wrote: »

legal question is fine (asking for opinion)... asking for legal advice is a big no-no.

This is the problem where moderators misinterpret the definition of opinion versus advice. Inconsistency at least on this forum.

Pat Mustard

DeVore wrote: »

Probably a silly question but if someone walks into your office and says "I stole a car" or "I sold my passport to a guy named Abdul" ... are you (solicitors) required to report it to the police?

What if it did come to trial and he says "I want you to plead not guilty for me, even though I totally did it"?

Just curious....

A solicitor has a general duty of confidentiality to his clients, but there are exceptions.

If a client admits to a crime, the solicitor cannot give out that information, in general. The solicitor cannot report it to the police.

If a client admits guilt to a solicitor, the solicitor may still defend that client on a plea of not guilty, but he cannot allow the client to suborn perjury. Therefore, he cannot continue to act where the client gets into the witness box and lies in court. If that happens, the solicitor will have to withdraw from the case. What will probably happen is that such a client will not be put into the witness box anyway.

Exceptions to confidentiality from the Law Society website:

Exceptions to confidentiality
The circumstances which override confidentiality are similar to those which override privilege. Where the solicitor is being used by the client to facilitate the commission of a crime or fraud, confidentiality is waived and the solicitor is then free to communicate his knowledge to a third party, for instance to a colleague subsequently instructed in the matter.

Where the solicitor believes on reasonable grounds that there is a real risk of death or serious injury to the client himself or to a third party, confidentiality may be waived to the extent necessary.

Pat Mustard

irishinvestor wrote: »

This is the problem where moderators misinterpret the definition of opinion versus advice. Inconsistency at least on this forum.

The forum charter permits discussion of hypothetical scenarios.

Stheno

what if a solicitor/barrister knows in advance that a crime may/will be committed? E.g. witness tampering?

ThreeLineWhip

I believe they can report their suspicions to the police.

johnnyskeleton

irishinvestor wrote: »

Funny, this sounds like a legal question but nobody complained on this.

DeV is a special case, I guess you could say he has certain privileges. I strongly suspect that he is not just about to tell his solicitor that he kidnapped shergar.

Ted_YNWA

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

DeV is a special case, I guess you could say he has certain privileges. I strongly suspect that he is not just about to tell his solicitor that he kidnapped shergar.

Can hardly give him a holiday from the forum !!

Ken.

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

DeV is a special case, I guess you could say he has certain privileges. I strongly suspect that he is not just about to tell his solicitor that he kidnapped shergar.

I thought it was well known around these parts that Dev is Lord Lucan.

irishinvestor

irishinvestor wrote: »

This is the problem where moderators misinterpret the definition of opinion versus advice. Inconsistency at least on this forum.

You were asking for advice. You asked on another part of the site for the same advice. It was not hypothetical and if you were to rely upon the advice to your detriment you could open the place up to a lawsuit. That's the rationale for the rule and it is consistently enforced.

The OP asked for opinion or, at best, an idea of what the limits of professional confidentiality may be. Not the same thing

Tom Young

Misprision was abolished and replaced by s.8 of the Criminal Law Act 1997.

The new definition includes consideration.

DeVore

Yeah my interest in this is purely academic, hence the wildly different scenarios I posited. I happen to have a US lawyer staying in my house at the moment and talk fell to the differences in US vs Irish law and this topic came up so there is no request for "advice" here.

Tom Young

Your OP was perfectly within the realms of what is allowed.

The third and subsequent poster requested advice, thus derailing your post.

Apologies!