Anyone confiding in a lawyer, notary or doctor must be able to rely on it going no further. Professional secrecy protects that trust — and with it the precondition for these professions to do their job at all.
Who is bound
Art. 321 of the Swiss Criminal Code names, among others, clergy, lawyers, defence counsel, notaries, patent attorneys, auditors bound to confidentiality under the Code of Obligations, and doctors and other health professions — each together with their auxiliaries. Fiduciaries without an audit function are not covered by Art. 321 but are bound to confidentiality by contract and, depending on the activity, by law, for example through the protection of business secrets.
What is protected
Protected are secrets entrusted to the professional in their professional capacity or observed in the course of their work. For lawyers this includes the very fact that a mandate exists. The duty does not end with the mandate or with leaving the profession.
When disclosure is allowed
Disclosure is not punishable if the entitled person consents or the superior or supervisory authority has authorised it in writing on application. Statutory reporting and disclosure duties remain reserved. A breach is prosecuted only on complaint.
What it means for cloud, AI and providers
Law firms and practices work with IT providers, cloud services and increasingly AI tools. Where client or patient information becomes accessible, professional secrecy must be preserved: providers are bound to confidentiality by contract, receive only the access they need and must not use the information for their own purposes, such as training models. Whether and under which conditions an external service may be used is a professional-law assessment by the professional. The practical steps are in our checklist on AI in law firms.
Relation to data protection
Professional secrecy and data protection apply side by side. Data protection law governs personal data generally; professional secrecy goes further in its area and also protects information that is not personal data, such as a corporate client’s business secrets. The perspective for AI use is described in our article AI in law firms and fiduciary offices.