25 novembro 2002

VITAMEDIAS
Keep it to yourself: what you have to do to keep a secret really secret
How far, then, do obligations of confidentiality go? If, for example, an aspiring politician is drawn into an illicit private romp, would the signing of a confidentiality agreement by the other party (or parties) before the vital moment give legal protection? In principle, perhaps, yes; indeed the judge in the Flitcroft case held that sexual relationships are, by their nature, confidential, and to be protected. This partly extends the concept of the confidential nature of married life set down in the case of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1964. But if the secrets reveal dishonesty by those in high places or those pretending to be different, public interest seems to demand, and the courts to support, that even express confidentiality should not prevent free expression.