Understanding Conscience Clause & Professional Secrecy
Instrumental Rights and Freedom of Information
Article 20.1 of the Spanish Constitution outlines several instrumental rights that support the core principles of freedom of expression and the right to freedom of information. These rights are crucial for ensuring the effectiveness of information dissemination. Examples include the conscience clause and professional secrecy, but also:
- Right to the development of communication media.
- Right of access for individuals and political/social groups to publicly owned media.
Article 105(b) of the Constitution guarantees access to official records for research purposes. Additionally, while not explicitly stated in the Constitution, the right to rectification can be inferred from the right to information, as indicated by the Constitutional Court.
The Conscience Clause
Article 20.1(d) of the Constitution states: “The following rights are recognized and protected: … to freely communicate or receive truthful information by any means of dissemination. The law shall regulate the right to the clause of conscience and professional secrecy in the exercise of these freedoms.“
Professional Secrecy and Legal Developments
The concept of professional secrecy faced significant resistance in the Spanish Parliament until the passage of Organic Law 2/1997. It is common in comparative constitutional law to find references to secrecy or the conscience clause with the rank of a fundamental right. The conscience clause does not present a unique profile in the different countries recognized.
Core Principles of the Conscience Clause
The essential element common to all definitions allows a realization: the right of reporters to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship that links them to a social media, entitled to compensation, when those responsible for this generated a change of conditions work of reporting affecting the dignity and professional awareness of it.
In Spanish labor law, this represents an exception to the standard rules, resulting in consequences similar to unfair dismissal, including compensation. Labor law aims to protect workers from potential employer abuse.
Historical Context and Labor Law
The Labor Contract Law (Article 89, 1931) addressed situations involving a serious lack of respect and consideration, or mistreatment by the employer, their representatives, their workers, or their dependents, or work requiring the employer other than the law. The 1941 Work Contract Law addressed situations creating a “depressive situation” for the worker, potentially leading to compensation for damages.
Workers’ Statute (Article 50.1)
Article 50.1 of the Workers’ Statute outlines just causes for an employee to request contract termination:
- a) Any substantial change in working conditions that results in harm to vocational training or impairment of dignity.
- b) Lack of payment or continued delays in the payment of agreed wages.
- c) Any other serious breach of obligations by the employer, except in cases of force majeure, and the employer’s refusal to reinstate the worker to their previous position in the cases provided for in Articles 40 and 41 of this Law, when a court ruling has declared them unjustified.
Tasks with a clear ideological component, such as transferring a sports journalist to a different section, are generally *not* accepted by judges as valid reasons for invoking the conscience clause.