Official Secrets Act 1989 (c. 6)
1989 CHAPTER 6
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Go to Preamble
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1. Security and intelligence.
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2. Defence.
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3. International relations.
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4. Crime and special investigation powers.
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5. Information resulting from unauthorised disclosures or entrusted in confidence.
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6. Information entrusted in confidence to other States or international organisations.
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7. Authorised disclosures.
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8. Safeguarding of information.
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9. Prosecutions.
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10. Penalties.
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11. Arrest, search and trial.
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12. "Crown servant" and "government contractor".
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13. Other interpretation provisions.
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14. Orders.
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15. Acts done abroad and extent.
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16. Short title, citation, consequential amendments, repeals, revocation and commencement.
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Schedule 1
Consequential Amendments.
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Schedule 2
Repeals and Revocation.
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An Act to replace section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 by provisions protecting more limited classes of official information.
[11th May 1989]
Be it enacted by the Queen´s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:–
1 Security and intelligence
(1) A person who is or has been–
(a) a member of the security and intelligence services; or
(b) a person notified that he is subject to the provisions of this subsection,
is guilty of an offence if without lawful authority he discloses any information, document or other article relating to security or intelligence which is or has been in his possession by virtue of his position as a member of any of those services or in the course of his work while the notification is or was in force.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to disclosing information relating to security or intelligence includes a reference to making any statement which purports to be a disclosure of such information or is intended to be taken by those to whom it is addressed as being such a disclosure.
(3) A person who is or has been a Crown servant or government contractor is guilty of an offence if without lawful authority he makes a damaging disclosure of any information, document or other article relating to security or intelligence which is or has been in his possession by virtue of his position as such but otherwise than as mentioned in subsection (1) above.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above a disclosure is damaging if–
(a) it causes damage to the work of, or of any part of, the security and intelligence services; or
(b) it is of information or a document or other article which is such that its unauthorised disclosure would be likely to cause such damage or which falls within a class or description of information, documents or articles the unauthorised disclosure of which would be likely to have that effect.
(5) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he did not know, and had no reasonable cause to believe, that the information, document or article in question…