France's highest appeals court has ruled that investigating judges can have access to church documents dealing with internal investigations without violating church confidentiality, court officials said Monday.
The court ruled that "the obligation of secrecy imposed on clergymen does not prevent judges from accessing documents in pursuit of the truth" in a criminal investigation, officials said.
The decision, issued on Dec. 17, overturns a lower appeals court ruling that such information-sharing constitutes a violation of the confidentiality between the clergy and a congregant.
The case stems from a complaint filed by the Archdiocese of Lyon in the course of an investigation into the alleged rape of a 25-year-old woman by a parish priest. On Aug. 6, 2001, the archdiocese was searched on a warrant was issued by a judge. The following month, additional evidence in the case was seized during a search of a bishop's office.