Duty of secrecy

(1) A person carrying out honorary activity must, even after the end of that activity, maintain secrecy concerning the matters that became known to him or her in the course of it. This does not apply to communications in official dealings, or concerning facts that are notorious or that, by their significance, do not require secrecy.
(2) A person carrying out honorary activity may not, without authorisation, give evidence or make declarations, whether before a court or otherwise, concerning matters in respect of which he or she must maintain secrecy.
(3) Authorisation to give evidence as a witness may be refused only where the evidence would cause disadvantage to the welfare of the Federation or of a Land, or would seriously endanger or considerably impede the performance of public functions.
(4) Where the person carrying out honorary activity is a party in a court proceeding, or where his or her submissions are to serve the exercise of his or her legitimate interests, authorisation may, even where the conditions of subsection (3) are met, be refused only where a compelling public interest so requires. Where it is refused, the person carrying out honorary activity must be afforded the protection that the public interests permit.
(5) Authorisation under subsections (2) to (4) is granted by the functionally competent supervisory authority of the body that appointed the person carrying out honorary activity.