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A graduate student in the UK told me about a really grave experience that they had in a different country. This experience has a long-lasting effect on their life and studies. However, I am not 100% sure that this experience really happened. I have a colleague working at the university that the student attended (and where this bad thing happened). Can I tell to this colleague of mine about the experience of the student? Is this legal?

PS. The reason why I was thinking of sharing this info with this colleague, is that, I believe, the colleague can either confirm or refute this information. (Unfortunately, I found the student giving me information that was not true on a couple of occasions)

user46405
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1 Answers1

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Duty of Confidence

A duty of confidence can arise in contract (not applicable here) or in equity.

The obligation arises where information with the necessary quality of confidence is imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence. Such circumstances will exist where the information is imparted on the understanding that it is to be treated by the confidant on a limited basis, or where the confidant ought to have realised that in all the circumstances the information was to be treated in such a way. Breach of the obligation occurs where there is an unauthorised use, not only where there is unauthorised disclosure, of the information.

So, if the information was given to you in confidence, you can neither use it (e.g. to make enquires of your colleague) nor disclose it. The test for whether it is given in confidence is the reasonable person test - would a reasonable person in the position of the confidant consider that the confider wished that confidence should be kept considering all the circumstances?

This duty can be supervened by another legal obligation such as if you are a law enforcement officer or a mandatory discloser.

Dale M
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