El elemento estatutario del secreto como instrumento de efectiva realización de las garantías.

Abstract

Abstract. The dogmatic orientation of the secret as an institution is generally fully defined from the theory referred to as the theory of the spheres. This modern working paradigm enables us to pinpoint the various manifestations of intimacy/privacy in concentric spheres of progressively larger radius, inversely related to the intensity of their protection: the individual sphere, the private sphere, the trust sphere and, lastly, the secret sphere, consubstantially related to what freedom essentially is. This essential view of the secretmust be expressed through its dogmatic concept, and due to natural derivation, through the variety of its structural elements; classically: relative subjectivism, current situation, legal relevance and relativism. A fifth element is put forward, the statutory one, which turns this institution into a right-obligation system with certain guarantees. The Uruguayan banking secrecy is analyzed so as to prove the usefulness of said proposal, enabling us to visualize the relevance of the legislation and the limits of the active legitimization of the debtor whose secrecy is kept, as well as the procedural means to make it effective.