Attorney-client privilege in polish criminal proceedings – towards an attorney-client pivilige?

Abstract

The article refers to the issue of attorney-client privilege in Polish criminal proceedings. The author critically evaluates the current solution based on the dichotomy of defence secret and advocacy secret, pointing to basic normative and axiological problems connected with weakening of confidential attorney-client relationship based on mutual trust. In the following part, he refers to the attorney-client privilege, which is, in his opinion, much more guaranteeing having in particular in mind the special relationship between the advocate and the client. The whole argument ends with conclusions in which the author points out the disproportionate nature of the existing solutions regarding the possibility of waiving attorney-client privilege and questioning an advocate as a witness.