著者

荻野 太司 高橋 学 Hiroshi OGINO Manabu TAKAHASHI

雑誌

學苑 = GAKUEN (ISSN:13480103)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.892, pp.70-82, 2015-02-01

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In Japan, certified social workers are obliged to keep their clients' confidentiality under provisions of the Certified Social Workers and Certified Care Workers Act. Social worker-client privilege is not, however, stipulated in any statute laws or case laws. In this first part of the study, the authors give an overview of Japanese laws regarding confidentiality and introduce some discussions concerning social worker-client privilege, pointing out issues from both social welfare and juristic standpoints. The authors suggest that in Japan social worker-client privilege will possibly be more acknowledged in civil trials than in criminal trials. USA is far more experienced and rich in judicial precedents in this field. For instance, the US Supreme Court has ruled that clinical social workers have the right to privileged communication in federal courts. Part(2)will further examine these American case laws concerning social welfare and examine the differences from Japan, which will lead to the final part(3)in which the authors will clarify in which case the social-worker-client privilege should be respected in Japan and in which case it should not.