Exposure Draft TPB (I) D 50/2022 Code of Professional Conduct – Confidentiality of client information
This submission concerning Exposure Draft TPB (I) D 50/2022 Code of Professional Conduct – Confidentiality of client information is made by the Taxation Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia (the Committee).
The Committee generally supports the exposure draft, except for clause 24. The Committee believes that the existing clause does not sufficiently cover the professional obligation and ethical duty of lawyers to maintain Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) in the absence of express instructions from their client to waive the privilege of the client. LPP requires a lawyer to avoid disclosing, without a client’s consent, the substance of any legal advice provided to the client as well as any information that reveals that the client sought such advice and when.