Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
absolute discretion
English answer:
shall not communicate anything by any means to any third party
English term
absolute discretion
I don't quite understand "obligation of absolute discretion".
Context:
Labor contract:
...
...
Article 7 - CONFIDENTIALITY
The Employee is bound by an obligation of absolute discretion and by professional secrecy, that he/she commits himself/herself to observing, even after the expiry of the Contract, in respect of any act or information that he/she has come to know in the performance of his/her duties.
Jun 16, 2020 15:02: MPGS Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (2): Yvonne Gallagher, AllegroTrans
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Responses
does not communicate anything by any means to any third party
:-)
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Note added at 9 hrs (2020-06-14 19:28:30 GMT)
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does not --> must not | will not | shall not
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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2020-06-16 15:01:24 GMT) Post-grading
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Thank you all!!
| Thank you :) |
| agree |
AllegroTrans
: Maintains 100% confidentiality at all times
30 mins
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Thank you AllegroTrans :-) Best!
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| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: absolutely clearcut
2 hrs
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Thank you, Yvonne. Best. :-)
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| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
4 hrs
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Thank you, Tina. Rgds. :-)
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| agree |
Lydia De Jorge
6 hrs
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Thanks a lot, Lydia. B Rgds. :-)
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| agree |
philgoddard
: Except it's "must/will", not "does".
8 hrs
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Phil, thanks a lot for your comment. Best.. :-)
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| agree |
Charlesp
21 hrs
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Thank you, Charlesp. Best. :-)
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| neutral |
Dr. Jozsef Dikter
: That word seems to be a mistranslated foreign word, not really matching the INTENDED content. The colleague needs to warn/consult the client.
1 day 10 hrs
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Thank you Joszef. Best. :-)
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| agree |
Elisa Ksiazenicki
1 day 14 hrs
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Thank you Elisa. Best. :-)
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Argentina
Macarena Mitelsky
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Latin American, Argentine)
Works in: English to Spanish
discreción absoluta
https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/absolute-discretion#:~:text=%EF%BC%8B%20New%20List,Sample%202
| Thank you :) |
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: Question is monolingual, akser needs explanation// asker is in Viet Nam and hasn't even mentioned Spanish!
15 mins
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I have provided explanation, a reference link and the Spanish translation, too.
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| disagree |
writeaway
: 100% confidence for an answer in the wrong language?
1 hr
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: Wrong language
2 hrs
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keeping absolute confidentiality / keeping absolute secrecy
trách nhiệm thận trọng tuyệt đối
trách nhiệm bảo mật tuyệt đối
| agree |
Charlesp
13 hrs
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: this is posted as monolingual English and has already been correctly answered
17 hrs
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| agree |
Dr. Jozsef Dikter
: Some languages use similar words for keeping secret, but in English it is misleading. Consult your dictionaries to see the difference, the source word does not fit to the intended content.
1 day 2 hrs
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Egypt
legal translator
Native in: Arabic (Variants: Egyptian, Saudi ) 
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, Arabic, and 1 more.
to have the right and ability to dispose by himself
| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: to dispose of what? this doesn’t make any sense in a paragaph about confidentiality
13 mins
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| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: "dispose by himself" = nonsense
16 hrs
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| agree |
Dr. Jozsef Dikter
: True, the word does not match the content, but Adel has right. In my dictionary stays nothing about secrets beside this word. It's not fair to underscore a fellow translator when he shows a dictionary.
22 hrs
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Alot of gratitude Dr Josef
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acts with honesty and integrity
| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: No, it means to observe secrecy
3 mins
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Thanks. I am not sure if you mean that the term asked means observe secrecy or that the paragraph here means to observe secrecy.
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| neutral |
Dr. Jozsef Dikter
: No, Allegro, the source word was just not properly used. Discretion means deliberate or rather voluntary act. Charlesp is right with the content at least.
9 hrs
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That's right. The question was not what the section/provision meant; it was what the words mean. The words alone could mean "secrecy" - keep it secret. OR these two words could mean to "act with honesty and integrity"-- What is says or what is should say?
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Hungary
Law/biz/tec: En-Ge-Hu-Fr-Pt > Hu-En-Ge
Native in: Hungarian (Variants: Transylvania, Hungary)
Works in: English to Hungarian, German to Hungarian, Hungarian to English, and 5 more.
exclusive judgement
Discretion however means in my dictionary an unobtrusive act, or even deliberate choice (freedom of action). The source text probably uses third language texts where words stemming from same routes as the english discretion mean secrets to keep.
One shall always translate a contract to deliver the exact same (i.e. false) content, but in case of misleading terms a pro always tries to call the clients attention for possible law suits and request guidance.
| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: A person cannot use their "exclusive judgement" to keep secrets - that would effectively mean they could do whatever they choose. Please see my reference entry.
19 hrs
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Reference comments
United Kingdom
Sensible solutions
Native in: English (Variant: Wessexois) 
Works in: French to English, English, English to French
Discretion has two separate and completely different basic meanings
1. the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offence or revealing confidential information.
"she knew she could rely on his discretion"
2. the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation.
"local authorities should use their discretion in setting the charges"
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Note added at 2 days 10 hrs (2020-06-16 21:27:16 GMT) Post-grading
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Search Results
Web results
absolute discretion and confidentiality | English examples in ...
ludwig.guru › absolute+discretion+and+confidentiality
High quality example sentences with “absolute discretion and confidentiality” in context from reliable sources - Ludwig is the linguistic search engine that helps ...
How to Communicate When Absolute Discretion is Required ...
www.business2community.com › communications › co...
18 Feb 2015 - In fact, even when clients hand us highly confidential information, chances are it will be released to the public; after all, that is why they hire us, to ...
| Thank you very much :) |
Discussion
1. the ability to behave without causing embarrassment or attracting too much attention, especially by keeping information secret;
2. the right or ability to decide something;
3. choice, or the right to make a choice, based on judgment;
4. the right to choose something, or to choose to do something, according to what seems most suitable in a particular situation.
Absolute discretion, is meaningless in the context of 1. above.
Some people have formed the incorrect view that it means complete secrecy, probable for the reasons I have already stated.
But it is not. Discretion means the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation.
So they could use their discretion to reveal the information?
Or does discretion mean behaving in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.
MY POINT is: discretion is a term with a multifaceted meaning.
2. Your contention does not seem to be supported by any reliable source.
3. How can legalese such as "obligation of absolute discretion" in a confidentiality clause not be a purported legal term?
4. The fact that many of the hits in the Google search of the EN terms are francophone plus the meaning and sources of the French legal term discrétion absolue merely suggests the source of this error.
No English language legal dictionary I have consulted (Blacks, Jowetts, Words and Phrases Legally Defined) provides a meaning of absolute discretion that connotes confidentiality/secrecy.
Likewise, the 10 volume Oxford Dictionary gives no such meaning to the word discretion. However, Websters includes "the ability to keep a secret" as a meaning of discretion, which is nearer the mark.
One of the meanings of discrétion in French is secrecy (Larousse, Dictionnaire économique et juridique NAVARRE) and Google searches for "devoir de discrétion absolue" "obligation de discrétion absolue" produce 8700 hits.
These hits include French court judgments in which "devoir/obligation de discrétion" has exactly the meaning presumably intended in the source text.
It therefore appears that "discrétion absolue / absolute discretion" are false friends.
This has a clear meaning and I have seen it used like this scores of times. See answer by MPGS
But this one really confuses me. I'll raise a query to the client, then.
Thank you, Mark :)
1. In a legal context, absolute discretion means the absolute and unqualified right of a person to act as they see fit, without even being subject to an obligation to act reasonably. This cannot be be the intended meaning in this confidentiality clause.
2. In a non-legal context, discretion means to behave or speak in such a way as to avoid embarrassment or distress. This meaning makes more sense in the context of a confidentiality clause, although "absolute discretion" cannot have that meaning.
The best way to deal with this sloppy drafting is probably a translator's note.