Some British Law Acts we should be aware of

[BASEL]

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The Official Secrets Act (1911 - 1920 - 1989):

Terms of the 1911 Act

The act applies in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and in overseas crown territories and colonies. It also applies to British subjects anywhere else in the world.

Section 1: spying. The section is very broadly drafted, and if spying is proved by the prosecution then the section specifically puts the burden of proof on the defendant to show that he/she acted with innocent motives. The maximum sentence is 14 years in prison.

Section 7: harbouring spies. Two years.

Section 8: prosecutions under this act require the permission of the Attorney General.

Section 9: search warrants. Very unusually, this section gives senior police officers (of the rank superintendent) the power to issue a search warrant in an emergency, if there is no time to obtain one from a judge.

Terms of the 1920 Act

Section 1: wearing false official uniforms, making false statements, forging official documents, impersonating people, keeping documents or codes etc. without authorisation, and other offences. All punishable by two years in prison.

Section 2: a specific rule of evidence in prosecutions under section 1 of the 1911 Act. Communicating with a foreign agent is admissible as evidence that the defendant intended to help an enemy.

Section 3: misleading or obstructing a police officer or soldier on duty at a prohibited place. ("Prohibited place" is defined at length by section 3 of the 1911 Act.) Two years.

Section 6: refusing to cooperate with a police investigation into a suspected offence under section 1 of the 1911 Act. Two years.

Section 7: attempting, inciting, or aiding or abetting an offence under the 1911 or 1920 acts. This section also makes it an offence to prepare to commit an offence under either act. This is much wider than ordinary British attempt law.

Section 8: sets the penalties for the offences under both acts.

Terms of the 1989 Act

Section 1: disclosure of security and intelligence information. It applies only to members of the security and intelligence services, and to others who work with security and intelligence information (and who have been informed that they are affected by section 1).

Section 2: disclosure of defence information. This section applies only to crown servants and government contractors (defined in section 12).

Section 3: disclosure of information concerning international relations. This section applies only to crown servants and government contractors.

Section 4: disclosure of law enforcement information which would assist a criminal or the commission of a crime. This section applies only to crown servants and government contractors.

Section 5: further disclosure or publication of information obtained in contravention of other sections of the act. It allows, for example, the prosecution of newspapers or journalists who publish secret information leaked to them by a crown servant in contravention of section 3. This section applies to everyone, regardless of whether they are a government employee, or whether they have signed the act.

Section 6: secret information belonging to foreign governments or international organisations. This section is intended to protect secrets shared by foreign governments and those of international organisations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Interpol.

Section 7: defines the circumstances under which a disclosure of secret information is officially published. It is not a crime to disclose information that has been officially published according to the mechanism described in this section.

Section 8: makes it a crime for a crown servant or government contractor to retain information beyond their official need for it, and obligates them to properly protect secret information from accidential disclosure.

Section 9: limits the circumstances under which a prosecution under the act may take place. Prosecutions under section 4 require the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or his equivalent in Northern Ireland. Prosecutions under other sections require the permission of the Attorney General or his equivalent in Northern Ireland.

Section 10: sets the penalties for contravening the act. Persons convicted under sections 4, 5, and 8 are subject to six months in prison and a fine; persons convicted under other sections are subject to two years imprisonment and a fine.

Section 11: amends existing police legislation, making contraventions of this act arrestable offences and allowing for the issuance of search warrants.

Section 12: defines who is a crown servant and government contractor. This includes civil servants, members of the government, members of the armed forces and their reserve equivalents (including the Territorial Army), police officers, and employees and contract employees of government departments and agencies defined by the Home Secretary.

Section 15: makes it a crime for British citizens and crown servants to disclose information abroad which would be illegal for them to do so in the UK. This is intended to cover espionage (where someone travels to a foreign country and discloses secret information to a foreign power) and cases where someone travels to a foreign country and discloses secret information, perhaps to a newspaper. The terms of this section do not apply to disclosures covered by sections 4, 5, and 8.


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Public Records Act 1958:

Is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom forming the main legislation governing public records in the United Kingdom.

The act stipulated that records would be transferred to the Public Record Office 30 years after creation and that most would be opened 50 years after creation. Subsection 3(4) of the act allowed government departments to retain records that were either still in use 30 years after creation or were of special sensitivity, such as intelligence agency materials and weapons of mass destruction information.

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Further Restrictions on a Citizen’s Access to Information

“The Official Secrets Act is not the only set of restrictions placed on a citizen’s access to information. Another restriction placed on access to information is the 1958 Public Records Act. This Act places a restriction on the release of government papers either until 30 years have passed or after sufficient time for those papers no longer to be sensitive, after which the files can be read by citizens at the official archives, the public records office at Kew in London.
There are, at present, 40 categories of papers which are automatically deemed to be too sensitive and which will be closed for 30, 50, 75, 100 years or indefinitely.

A further restriction to information can arise when a Public Interest Immunity Certificate is issued. These certificates prevent the release of documents and although they are infrequently employed, when they are used, they are very effective in preventing a citizen’s access to information.
At least four Public Interest Immunity Certificates were issue in the trial of David Shayler. A Public Interest Immunity Certificate was also issued during the trial of ex-royal butler, Paul Burrell.�

Extract from: Citizenship in Modern Britain - By Trevor Desmoyers-Davis, Desmoyers-Davis (Page 71). http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T...esult#PPT92,M1


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D-Notice Committee:

The DA Notice system is a voluntary code that provides guidance to the British media on the publication or broadcasting of national security information. The objective is to prevent inadvertent public disclosure of information that would compromise UK military and intelligence operations and methods, or put at risk the safety of those involved in such operations, or lead to attacks that would damage the critical national infrastructure and/or endanger lives. The system is overseen by the Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee, a joint government/media body that approves the standing DA notices and monitors their implementation.

LINK:
http://www.dnotice.org.uk/

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"D" Notice Committee - United Kingdom Intelligence Agencies

The "D" Notice committee a voluntary system consisting of representatives of the media and the armed services. Its purpose is to assist the media in identifying subjects whose public discussion would adversely affect the defense [hence the "D"] of the realm. However, the fact that a publication has received the Committee's clearance does not provide a bar against prosecution. The Committee is not universally esteemed, as some are of the belief that the government has used it in matters that are merely politically embarrassing rather than actually harmful to the national defense. Consequently, many media organizations have declined to participate in the "D" Notice process.

LINK:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/uk/d.htm

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“ D-notices work on a shared asuption between journalists and the state that some information and some events are just too sensitive to report.�
Citizenship in Modern Britain - By Trevor Desmoyers-Davis, Desmoyers-Davis - (Page 72)

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“How free are the press and broadcasting media in Britain? The external constraints are quite well known — though their range and scope may not be. For example, the broadcasting laws allow the Home Secretary complete control over all broadcasting content , which — without reference to Parliament — has enabled the Home Office since 1988 to ban direct reporting of Irish activists, including members of legal political parties such as Sinn Fein. Other legislative constraints include the Official Secrets Act, Prevention of Terrorism Act, Police and Criminal Evidence Act, Contempt of Court Act, and laws relating to obscenity, libel, race relations, sedition, incitement to disaffection and treason — amongst others. To these can be added the many instances of direct Government censorship — notably during the Falklands and Gulf conflicts — and the informal but sometimes intense pressures of advertisers and distributors. [...]

The most institutionalised method of self-censorship is the D Notice system (short for Defence Notices). They are a unique peacetime arrangement of voluntary suppression of certain categories of information on the advice — not orders — of the Government. The system was established in 1912 and continues to this day. The justification for the system, as stated in the official guidelines, is as follows: Hostile intelligence services draw on information from a variety of sources both overt and covert, and by piecing it together can build up a composite picture of a subject. The dissemination of sensitive information can make their task easier and put national security at risk. It can also be of value to terrorist groups who lack the resources to obtain it through their own efforts. For these reasons there are dangers inherent even in the publication of information covered by D Notices which has already appeared elsewhere. It is strongly requested that there should be no elaboration, nor confirmation or denial, of the accuracy of items published elsewhere, without reference to the [D Notice] Secretary.�

The D Notice - by Moyra Grant
http://www.serendipity.li/cda/dnot.html


Cont. Later