Evidence Act 1893 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Production and Effect of Evidence
128. Professional communications
Feedback & supportNo advocate or solicitor is at any time permitted, unless with his or her client’s express consent, to disclose any communication made to him or her in the course and for the purpose of his or her employment as such advocate or solicitor by or on behalf of his or her client, or to state the contents or condition of any document with which he or she has become acquainted in the course and for the purpose of his or her professional employment, or to disclose any advice given by him or her to his or her client in the course and for the purpose of such employment.
document
“document” includes, in addition to a document in writing —(a)any map, plan, graph or drawing;(b)any photograph;(c)any label, marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms a part, or to which it is attached by any means whatsoever;(d)any disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom;(e)any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disc or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; and(f)any paper or other material on which there are marks, impressions, figures, letters, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them;
Nothing in this section protects from disclosure —
any such communication made in furtherance of any illegal purpose;
any fact observed by any advocate or solicitor in the course of his or her employment as such showing that any crime or fraud has been committed since the commencement of his or her employment.
It is immaterial whether the attention of such advocate or solicitor was or was not directed to such fact by or on behalf of his or her client. Explanation.—The obligation stated in this section continues after the employment has ceased.Illustrations (a) A, a client, says to B, a solicitor: “I have committed forgery and I wish you to defend me”. As the defence of a man known to be guilty is not a criminal purpose this communication is protected from disclosure. (b) A, a client, says to B, a solicitor: “I wish to obtain possession of property by the use of a forged deed on which I request you to sue”. This communication being made in furtherance of a criminal purpose is not protected from disclosure. (c) A, being charged with embezzlement, retains B, a solicitor, to defend A. In the course of the proceedings B observes that an entry has been made in A’s account book, charging A with the sum said to have been embezzled, which entry was not in the book at the commencement of his or her employment. This being a fact observed by B in the course of his or her employment, showing that a fraud has been committed since the commencement of the proceedings, it is not protected from disclosure.
fact
“fact” includes —(a)any thing, state of things, or relation of things, capable of being received by the senses; and(b)any mental condition of which any person is conscious;Illustrations(a) That there are certain objects arranged in a certain order in a certain place is a fact.(b) That a man heard or saw something is a fact.(c) That a man said certain words is a fact.(d) That a man holds a certain opinion, has a certain intention, acts in good faith or fraudulently, or uses a particular word in a particular sense, or is or was at a specified time conscious of a particular sensation, is a fact.(e) That a man has a certain reputation is a fact.