Competition Law | Articles
Attorney-Client Privilege from Competition Law Perspective: Comparison Between Turkish and French Legal Systems
The attorney-client privilege is a common law concept of legal professional privilege in the United States. The concept also exists in civil law countries where there is a secrecy obligation on the part of professionals in guaranteeing that clients’ confidential information is kept secret from disclosure to third parties. The civil law concept of attorney-client privilege is generally regulated under special laws such as legal practitioner acts or through national criminal law. Even if the principle of attorney-client privilege generally has a significant place in all legal systems it creates an ambiguous area within the scope of competition law depending on the country. However, neither Turkey nor France has specific dispositions under their national laws which are Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”), the French Civil Code (“FCiC”), and the French Commercial Code (“FCoC”). However, for Turkey, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) sets specific conditions related to this matter, whereas, in France, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) is still ambiguous on the subject.
