The Legal Profession Act
(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, 31/2011 and 24/2012 – Decision of the Constitutional Court)
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Autonomy, independence and public importance of the legal profession
Article 2
The legal profession is an independent and autonomous activity of providing legal aid to natural and legal persons.
Autonomy and independence of the legal profession is provided by:
1. independent performance of the legal profession
2. the client’s right to free choice of attorney-at-law
3. organization of attorneys-at-law in the Bar Association of Serbia and bar associations within it, as autonomous and independent organizations of attorneys-at-law,
4. adoption of general legislation by the bar associations,
5. deciding on admission to the legal profession and the termination of the right to practice law.
Subject of legal profession
Article 3
Provision of legal aid under Article 2 Paragraph 1 of this Act includes:
1) providing oral and written legal advice and opinions;
2) writing petitions, requests, suggestions, applications, legal remedies, and submissions;
3) drafting contracts, testaments, settlements, statements, general and individual acts and other documents;
4) representation and defense of individuals and legal entities;
5) mediation for the purpose of concluding a legal transaction or the peaceful settlement of disputes and contentious relationships;
6) providing other legal aid on behalf of national or foreign physical or legal persons, based on which to exercise their rights and protect freedom and other interests.
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Attorney’s Secret
Article 20
Attorney-at-law shall, in accordance with the statute of the bar association and the Code, keep as a professional secret and ensure that also persons employed in his law office do the same, all that his client or his authorized representative entrusted to him or that he otherwise learned or acquired in a case where he provides legal aid, in preparation, during and after the termination of representation.
The obligation to keep a secret has no time limit.
The manner of keeping attorney secret and actions in relation to that secret is organized by the
statute of the bar association and the code.
The Oath of Attorneys-at-Law
“I swear that I shall perform the duties of attorney-at-law conscientiously, that I shall act in accordance with the Constitution, the laws and other regulations, the Statute of the Bar Association and the Code of Professional Ethics and that I shall, by acts and conduct, protect the reputation of the legal profession.”
THE PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS OF ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
Independence
Autonomy
Professionalism
Conscientiousness
Integrity
Confidentiality
Worthiness
Responsibility
Temperance
CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
OF ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
(Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, 27/2012)
A. General part
I Basic Provisions
Article 1. Fundamentals of Professional Ethics
1.1. In a society founded on the rule of law, an attorney-at-law has a high level of professional responsibility, which stems from his/her duty to dedicate knowledge and abilities equally to his/her clients and the interests of legality and justice.
1.2. The legal and ethical obligations of an attorney-at-law concern his/her approach to the practice of law, clients, courts and other bodies before which he/she acts, to other attorneys-at-law, parties having or representing interests different from that of his/her clients, to law trainees, to the legal profession as a whole and any individual member thereof, to the Bar Association, and to the public.
1.3. The legal and ethical obligations of an attorney-at-law are based on the Constitution, the law and other effective regulations, ratified international treaties, international legal instruments on the legal profession, the Statute of the Bar Association (hereinafter: the Statute) and the Code of Professional Ethics of Attorneys-at-Law (hereinafter: the Code).
III – PROFESSIONAL SECRET
Article 14. The Subject of the Secret
14.1. A professional secret kept by an attorney-at-law shall comprise anything that the client or a person authorised by the client confided in the attorney-at-law, or anything the attorney-at-law became aware of in any other manner in a case in which he has undertaken the representation, or anything he/she obtained in the preparation of, during, and after the representation.
14.2. The obligation to keep the professional secret shall equally pertain to:
14.2.1. any information, documents (records, cases, official papers, and electronic, sound or video recordings) and depositions communicated, shown or given to the attorney-at-law in relation to the representation, regardless of whether the documents and depositions are within the premises of the attorney-at-law, or temporarily stored in another place as ordered by or under the supervision of the attorney-at-law.
14.2.2. any confidential information the attorney-at-law learned from the persons he/she has not accepted to represent (parties), or from the opposing party who addressed him/her with a view to the settlement of dispute or mediation before the proceedings have been instituted before the competent body.
Article 15. Keeping the Secret
15.1. An attorney-at-law shall keep the secret by not disclosing or disseminating the confidential information, and by not making the confidential documents available to third parties.
15.2. An attorney-at-law shall keep the secret even without a special request of the client, based on his bona fide assessment of all the circumstances that may lead him/her to a conclusion as to what his/her client wants, or what should remain confidential in the interest of the client.
15.3. The facts that are commonly known, published or entered into public registers shall be kept secret by an attorney-at-law if the client has specifically requested so, or if the disclosure or dissemination of such facts may harm the reputation, honour, privacy or other interests of the client, the client’s relatives or successors.
15.4. The duty to keep the professional secret shall not be limited in time.
15.5. In order to keep a secret, an attorney-at-law should:
15.5.1. personally oblige his/her associates, staff, law trainees and all other persons engaged by him/her in the course of representation, to keep the professional secret, and warn them of the consequences of violating that obligation;
15.5.2. act with reasonable care when relaying the confidential information via postal service, telephone, fax, electronic means, or in any other indirect manner, and minimise the possibility of having the secret revealed, either accidentally or by way of abusing the means of communication.
15.5.3. under the circumstances making him/her aware, or causing reasonable suspicion that his/her communication with the client is being listened to, or eavesdropped on, especially when in the custody of police, prison or detention, warn the client of the dangers and risks of communicating the confidential information under such circumstances;
15.5.4. personally, or through a reliable associate, supervise the production of transcripts, copies or recordings of confidential documents;
15.5.5. ensure that the documents are kept safe in an appropriate manner;
15.5.6. to warn any person authorised to access the confidential information of the confidential nature of such information.
15.6. If effected to the extent necessary to achieve the purpose of representation, the disclosure of information or documents entrusted to an attorney-at-law by the client or a person authorised by the client, shall not be considered a breach of professional secret.
15.7. When invoking the right to professional secret before a state body, an attorney-at-law shall independently assess whether and what information and documents comprise the subject of the secret, explaining only the grounds referred to in Rule 14 of this Code.
15.8. Any refusal by an attorney-at-law to disclose information that is not the subject of a professional secret shall be deemed a violation of the principle of integrity.
15.9. An attorney-at-law sending to his/her colleague confidential information from a foreign country should clearly indicate that the information is of confidential nature, and the recipient is obliged to return such information without familiarising himself/herself with its contents, if for any reason the recipient decides that he would not be able to maintain confidentiality thereof.
Article 16. Disclosing the Secret
16.1. An attorney-at-law shall have the right to disclose a professional secret:
16.1.1. if the client or a person referred to in Rule 14.2.2. of this Code clearly authorises the attorney-at-law to do so;
16.1.2. when it is necessary to prevent the commission of a pre-announced crime involving a considerable danger to society;
16.1.3. when it is necessary for the defence of the attorney-at-law himself/herself in a proceedings instituted against him pursuant to a report or private action by the client, or by the person who entrusted the attorney-at-law with the information or documents on behalf of the client, or by the persons referred to in Rule 14.2.2. of this Code;
16.1.4. when it is necessary for the protection of interests and rights of the attorney-at-law himself/herself or his close relatives and associates, if such interests and rights are objectively more significant than the contents of the secret.
16.2. Wherever permitted by the nature and specific circumstances of the case, and wherever appropriate in terms of moral considerations, the attorney-at-law shall without delay notify the person concerned of his/her decision to exercise the right to disclosure of professional secret.
16.3. An attorney-at-law is obliged to forewarn the client of his/her legal duty to record, in certain cases provided for by the law, specific information and relay it to the competent state body, before the client confided such information to the attorney-at-law.
16.4. When disclosing a professional secret, an attorney-at-law should, as much as possible, protect the integrity and interests of the client or persons referred to in Rule 14.2.2. of this Code, and avoid publicity, and in the case referred to in Rule 16.1.2. he/she should refrain from revealing any personal information and limit the disclosure to the circumstances sufficient to
prevent or stop the criminal act.