Professional Secrecy of Lawyers as a Way to Protect the Private Sphere of an Individual

The private sphere of an individual is legally protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 as well as civil, criminal and administrative law. The paper discusses the duty of confidentionality of lawyers and the role of that duty to protect the private sphere of an individual. The positive aspect of professional secrecy and the so-called internal aspect of the protection of professional secrecy of lawyers prompted the consideration of the horizontal effect of onstitutional norms. Likewise, the negative aspect of professional secrecy and its external perspective prompted the examination of the vertical effect of onstitutional norms that protect the private sphere of an individual.