A quebra de segredo profissional
: o incidente de quebra do segredo profissional de jornalista

  • João Orsini Vilhena Pereira de Sampaio (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

The present dissertation deals with the professional secrecy of journalists and the procedure of the related professional secrecy breach incident. We aim to understand the specificities surrounding the procedural incident of journalist professional secrecy breach in comparison to other professional secrets, as the legislator, in the Code of Criminal Procedure, provided a unified procedural solution for the breach of different secrets. To this end, in a first part and as a starting point, we make some considerations regarding the legal framework of the central issues to be addressed. It is necessary to mention here the subjects bound by the professional secrecy of journalists, as well as the facts that integrate it. To conclude the first part, we will refer to the basis of the professional secrecy of journalists in the right to abstain and eventual breach, a professional secrecy that assumes a unique position as it is enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and in national legislation, followed by its legislative evolution, due to the curiosity resulting from the confrontation of two conflicting democratic interests of a State. In a second part, we will analyze the right provided for in Article 135 of the CPP for the holder of journalist's secret to abstain from testifying about facts covered by the secret and the issues that arise around the exercise of this right. Thus, we will briefly refer to its qualification as illegitimate or legitimate, because only in the face of this will the strict sense incident of secrecy breach arise. It is from this procedural dimension that the core of the incident resides, whose normative provision lies in Article 135 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Finally, we will conclude by mentioning the substantive and procedural consequences that may arise for the holders of professional secrecy of journalists.
Date of Award9 Oct 2024
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorMaria Paula Ribeiro de Faria (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Professional journalist secrecy
  • Testemonial evidence
  • Right to abstain
  • Breach incident
  • Substantive and procedural consequences

Designation

  • Mestrado em Direito

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