Company Law, Press releases

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Today, Parliament clearly approved the bill to amend the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP revision) in the final vote. This is the first time that a provision on the protection of professional secrecy for in-house counsel in civil proceedings has been introduced. This is a very important step in the right direction.

Swiss law grants the lawyer and his assistants protection of secrecy for profession-specific activities in civil proceedings. It is obvious that this must also apply in civil proceedings to the in-house lawyer with a license to practice law and persons subordinate to him, if they perform the same activities.

Moreover, a lack of protection of secrets makes our companies vulnerable to international attack: In proceedings in the USA, the discrimination of Swiss companies becomes particularly visible. In so-called discovery proceedings, Swiss companies can be required to disclose the correspondence of their in-house counsel or corporate attorneys employed in Switzerland; at the same time, the correspondence of American companies is protected. Finally, it should also be noted that many and an increasing number of other countries also provide for professional secrecy protection for in-house counsel.

Accordingly, it was time for Parliament to take this important step in the right direction, toward professional secrecy protection for in-house counsel.

For information:
Dr. Manuela Baeriswyl │ Head Legal │ 078 835 17 57
Pascal Nussbaum │ Head of Communications & Public Affairs │ 079 798 52 40

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