Dr Jalal Hashim Sahlool
Associate Professor of Public Law
Faculty of Law, King Abdulaziz University
Jeddah, KSA

Abstract:

Attorney-Client Privilege is one of the basic pillars of the legal profession generally and the right to criminal defense. It protects the content of communications between the lawyer and his client by preventing the lawyer from being a witness against his client with some exceptions. Although American law and many legal systems around the world recognize the Attorney-Client Privilege, the current position of the Saudi legal system is not clear regarding the recognition of such a privilege.
This study was divided into two sections. The first section was devoted to examining the concept of Attorney-Client Privilege in American law due to the its distinction – from the researcher’s point of view – from other laws that recognize this privilege by setting precise conditions for its application, as well as linking it to the basic constitutional rights of the accused, such as his right to an attorney and his right not to be compelled to present evidence against himself, which are the same rights granted to the accused in the Saudi legal system. The first section of the study dealt with the concept of this privilege in American law by reviewing some of the most important axes associated with it, such as its definition, its origin, its constitutionality, and finally its rules and conditions. As for the second section, and after extrapolating the position of the Saudi legal system regarding the attorney-client privilege and examining whether this privilege is applied or applicable in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it showed the necessity of applying this privilege in the Saudi legal system.
The study concluded with the importance of adopting the Attorney-Client Privilege by the Saudi legislature, based on a set of justifications, the most important of which lie in: 1) enhancing the respect for the rights of the defense and increasing the confidence of clients in their lawyers, in the absence of which the client is not able to fully disclose to his lawyer so that the latter can carry out his role properly and effectively; 2) ensuring that there is no possibility of any negative impact on the accused’s basic rights prescribed for him by the law.
Keywords: Legal Profession, Professional Secrecy, Defense Rights, Attorney’s Testimony against his Client, Rights of the Accused.

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