privileged communication

privileged communication, in law, communication between persons who have a special duty of fidelity and secrecy toward each other. Communications between attorney and client are privileged and do not have to be disclosed to the court. However, in the wake of terrorist attacks against the United States in 2001, some policy makers supported eavesdropping on the attorney-client discussions of suspected terrorists. The right of privileged communication exists between husbands and wives in that they are not required to testify against each other. In many jurisdictions the privilege exists between physicians and patients, as the courts have recognized that the basis of a doctor-patient relationship is trust, which would be negated were the doctor forced to reveal patients’ communications in court. However, in some circumstances doctors may be required to disclose such information if it is determined that the right of the defendant to receive a fair trial outweighs the patient’s right to confidentiality. In some jurisdictions members of the clergy have limited rights to refuse to testify in court on matters communicated to them in confidence (the “priest-penitent” privilege). Reporters have been accorded a limited right to privileged communication concerning the sources of their information, though they can be ordered to divulge information in certain situations. For example, in 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a news reporter’s claim of confidentiality in Branzburg v. Hayes.