1 Introduction
The attorney-client professional relationship is protected by law in every legal system. The protection conferred to professional privilege serves different purposes. From the human rights protection point of view, confidentiality of information obtained in the course of legal advice or legal proceedings promotes the right to a fair trial, the right to privacy and the right not to incriminate oneself. It protects citizens from arbitrary encroachment of their rights by investigatory authorities.
Depending on the legal systems adopted by various countries, the scope and the nature of the protections afforded to the attorney-client professional privilege and confidentiality of communication vary.
On the other hand, with the increase of organised and transnational crimes, such as terrorism and money laundering, there is a tendency to restrict the protection granted to the classic lawyer-client legal professional privilege.
Accordingly, the threats posed by money laundering and the financing of terrorism to peace, security, the well-being and economic development of the international community call upon the international community to revise the protection of the principle of legal professional privilege and confidentiality. Particularly, the danger posed by money laundering to the financial system integrity and the world economic development and its significant linkage with the financing of terrorism further justifies putting a limitation on the applicability of legal professional privilege and confidentiality. In this regard, the FATF Recommendations encourage countries in combating ML/TF, to take measures that require lawyers and other independent legal professionals to report suspicious transactions to the appropriate regulatory organs in certain fields of transactions. Further, the countries’ secrecy law should not be an obstacle to the effective implementation of the FATF Recommendations.