Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Legal Ethics and Confidentiality

Abstract

Confidentiality issue in legal practice is part of legal ethics. Advocates are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information provided by the client. This becomes of more importance when the information is provided or shared by a woman who is victim of harassment, forced marriage, domestic violence, sexual abuse, threat of honor killing etc and who has taken shelter in darul aman (safe homes established by the government for women to provide them residence on court orders when their safety is in danger. Women can only be ordered to stay there if they consent or if they opt to stay there). Free legal aid volunteer lawyers need sensitization over the issue of confidentiality as the leakage of information may bring disastrous impacts like killing of woman or a person related to her (e.g., a man with whom she wanted to get married), injury, domestic violence and psychological depressions. Even she may loose her job or business in circumstances. This presentation made to volunteer lawyers in a seminar organized by the Punjab Bar Council, Lahore in collaboration with MDM France. It highlights that the study of legal ethics and rules/legislative instruments with therapeutic lens will help the volunteer lawyer to find out the healing capacity of laws. The lawyers were much interested, after the presentation, to know more about tj and wanted to apply the tj concepts in their professional work.In Pakistan, my experience spanning over almost a decade of introducing TJ to the lawyers, judges, law officers, court personnel, jail authorities, prosecution officers, probation officers and others is really encouraging. For this reason, I have started my presentation from introduction of TJ and how it is developing in other countries. Thereafter, the main topic was touched upon.