On the Scope of Professional Secret and Confidentiality: The International Criminal Court Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel and the Lawyer's Dilemma

Abstract

In late 2005 the Assembly of States Parties adopted the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel of the International Criminal Court. Article 22 of the Code contains a provision on fee splitting which does not go as far as to place a positive duty on counsel to report such practices to the Registrar. This essay revisits this approach in the light of the practice of the ad hoc tribunals, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, and existing norms in domestic legislation. It argues that the lawyer–client privilege is not absolute. Accordingly, the ICC should make it obligatory – through specific empowering clauses – for lawyers to advise their clients about the prohibition of the practice of fee splitting and to report the incident to the Registrar forthwith, notwithstanding any claim of privilege.