Immunity, also known as lawyer-client privilege, is a branch of witness's right to refuse to testify, which means that a lawyer has the right to refuse to testify about the secrets of his client that he knows in his business activities. Western countries and China's SAR have clear provisions on lawyers' criminal immunity from litigation. Chapter I of Article 453 of the Luxembourg Criminal Code stipulates: "As long as the speech in court or the litigation documents submitted to the court are related to litigation or litigants, criminal proceedings cannot be instituted against them. British law stipulates that lawyers have the right to refuse to testify about secret conversations and correspondence between parties, including litigation issues and non-litigation legal affairs. Article 149 of Japan's Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that a lawyer may refuse to testify about the secret facts about others that he has learned because of his professional entrustment. In Germany, according to Article 53 of the Criminal Procedure Law, those who have the right to refuse to testify for professional reasons include lawyers. From this perspective, the lawyer's immunity to testify is actually the lawyer's right to keep professional secrets. 1The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders on September 7, 990 reflected this point. Article 8 of the Basic Principles stipulates: "All persons arrested, detained or imprisoned shall have adequate opportunities, time and facilities to receive visits, contacts and consultations from lawyers, and shall not be delayed, eavesdropped or inspected, and shall be kept completely confidential. Such consultation can be carried out within the range that law enforcement officers can see and hear. Article 20 stipulates: "Lawyers shall enjoy civil and criminal immunity in their written or oral defense, or in the relevant statements made because of their duties and tasks before appearing in court, court or other legal or administrative authorities. "This is the specific provision of the United Nations on criminal immunity. Article 22 further stipulates: "Governments should confirm and respect that all contacts and consultations between lawyers and their clients within the scope of professional relations are confidential. "Article 14 of the Human Rights Resolution of the Criminal Procedure Law of the World Association of Criminal Law 15 also stipulates:" All evidence investigations must respect the privilege of professional secrets. The Code of Conduct for Lawyers in England and Wales stipulates: "Under normal circumstances, lawyers enjoy immunity from speech in court debates. "British law stipulates that lawyers are not liable for defamation to third parties when practicing; Lawyers appearing in court have the right to be ignored in handling litigation cases. According to the explanation of British scholars, as the defender and litigation agent of the parties, any statement made by a lawyer in the course of litigation is not subject to legal investigation. Even if his statement is obviously malicious and has nothing to do with the case he undertakes, he enjoys the protection of this privilege. This privilege is absolute and unconditional. It is not only applicable to all kinds of court proceedings, but also has the same effect on any proceedings. There is an unwritten law in France: criminals or defendants cannot be arrested in lawyers' residences; Although the police station and procuratorate can look for documents with criminal records in the lawyer's residence, they can't find clues about the crime and negligence of the parties; Communications between lawyers and clients can neither be sealed nor disassembled, and are absolutely protected by law. The Guidelines on the Professional Conduct of Lawyers in Hong Kong, the Code of Practice for Barristers in Hong Kong and the Guidelines on the Practice of Lawyers in Hong Kong all clearly stipulate that "practising barristers and barristers shall not be liable for libel to a third party when representing them in court. "
The most important value of lawyer's immunity to testify is to maintain the trust relationship between the client and the lawyer, thus protecting the interests of the client and promoting the defense lawyer to perform his duties smoothly. For the client, if the law firm exercises the immunity to testify, then the client will avoid the damage to his personal rights and property rights because his secrets are not made public. For lawyers, if the parties know that lawyers can't disclose what the parties say regardless of their objections, then the parties will state the case to the lawyers more frankly, completely and truly, and the lawyers will better perform their defense or agency duties if they know the case more clearly and truly. If the lawyer can't keep the client's secret, the client's trust in the lawyer will be destroyed, and the basis of the entrustment relationship between the lawyer and the client will no longer exist, so no one is willing to entrust a lawyer.