Search Legislation

Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

Changes over time for: Cross Heading: Anonymity of victims

 Help about opening options

Alternative versions:

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, Cross Heading: Anonymity of victims. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

Anonymity of victimsN.I.

Extended anonymity of victimsN.I.

8.—(1) Section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 (anonymity of victims of certain offences) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for “shall during that person’s lifetime be included” substitute “shall—

(a)during that person’s lifetime, or

(b)during the period of 25 years beginning with the date of that person’s death,

be included.

(3) In subsection (2), for “shall during the complainant’s lifetime be included” substitute “shall—

(a)during the complainant’s lifetime, or

(b)during the period of 25 years beginning with the date of the complainant’s death,

be included.

Commencement Information

I1S. 8 not in operation at Royal Assent, see s. 30(2)

I2S. 8 in operation at 28.9.2023 by S.R. 2023/142, art. 3

Disapplication of anonymity of victim after deathN.I.

9.—(1) The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 1(3)(b) (anonymity of victims of certain offences), at the end insert “and

(c)has effect subject to any order made under section 3A..

(3) After section 3 insert—

3A.    Disapplication of section 1 after victim’s death

(1) Subsection (2) applies where matters relating to a person (“A”) are prohibited from publication by virtue of section 1(1) or (2).

(2) An interested party may after A’s death apply to a magistrates’ court for an order—

(a)disapplying, or

(b)modifying the application of,

section 1(1) or (2) in relation to A.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt, the modifications that may be made under subsection (2)(b) include increasing or decreasing the period mentioned in section 1(1)(b) or (2)(b) (the period during which publication is prohibited).

(4) In this section, “interested party” means—

(a)a person who was a family member of A at the time of A’s death;

(b)a personal representative of A;

(c)a person interested in publishing matters relating to A which are prohibited from publication by virtue of section 1(1) or (2).

(5) On an application under subsection (2), the court must make an order under that subsection if the court is satisfied that it would be—

(a)in the interests of justice, or

(b)otherwise in the public interest,

to make such an order.

(6) An order made under subsection (2) may be varied or revoked by order of a magistrates’ court on the application of an interested party where the court is satisfied that it would be—

(a)in the interests of justice, or

(b)otherwise in the public interest,

to make such a variation or revocation.

(7) An order made under this section does not affect the operation of section 1 at any time before the order was made.

(8) In this section, “a family member of A” means—

(a)a person who at the time of A’s death was—

(i)married to A;

(ii)in a civil partnership with A;

(iii)living with A as if a spouse;

(b)a relative of A.

(9) For the purposes of this section—

(a)relative” means parent, child, grandparent, great-grandparent, grandchild, great-grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, great-uncle, aunt, great-aunt, nephew, great-nephew, niece or great-niece;

(b)a relationship of the half-blood or by affinity is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood;

(c)the stepchild of a person is to be treated as that person’s child.

(10) In this section, “a person interested in publishing matters” means a person who—

(a)wishes the matters to be included in a publication, and

(b)in relation to the publication, is a person mentioned in section 5(1) (persons by whom an offence relating to publishing may be committed).

(11) In subsections (1) and (4)(c), a reference to matters being prohibited from publication includes matters being partially prohibited from publication following the making of an order under this section modifying the application of section 1(1) or (2) in relation to A.

3B.    Rules of Court

(1) Rules of Court may make such provision relating to orders under section 3A as appears to the authority making them to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of that section.

(2) Rules of Court may, in particular, make provision—

(a)for notice of applications to be given to such persons as may be prescribed by the rules;

(b)for applications to be heard in private;

(c)as to the matters to be taken into consideration by a court in determining whether it is in the interests of justice, or the public interest, to make, vary or revoke an order under section 3A.

(3) Nothing in subsections (1) and (2) is to be taken to affect the generality of any enactment conferring power to make Rules of Court; and no particular provision of those subsections prejudices any general provision of them..

Commencement Information

I3S. 9 not in operation at Royal Assent, see s. 30(2)

I4S. 9 in operation at 28.9.2023 by S.R. 2023/142, art. 3

Increase in penalty for breach of anonymityN.I.

10.—(1) Section 5 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 (offences) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1) omit the words from “and liable” to “standard scale”.

(3) After subsection (1) insert—

(1A) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both..

Commencement Information

I5S. 10 not in operation at Royal Assent, see s. 30(2)

I6S. 10 in operation at 28.9.2023 by S.R. 2023/142, art. 3

Special rules for providers of information society servicesN.I.

11.—(1) In section 5 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 (offences), at the end insert—

(9) The Schedule contains special rules relating to providers of information society services..

(2) After section 8 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 insert—

Section 5(9).

SCHEDULEN.I.OFFENCE OF BREACH OF ANONYMITY: PROVIDERS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY SERVICES
Exceptions for mere conduitsN.I.

1.(1) A service provider does not commit an offence under section 5 by providing access to a communication network or by transmitting, in a communication network, information provided by a recipient of the service, if the service provider does not—

(a)initiate the transmission,

(b)select the recipient of the transmission, or

(c)select or modify the information contained in the transmission.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)—

(a)providing access to a communication network, and

(b)transmitting information in a communication network,

include the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the information transmitted so far as the storage is solely for the purpose of carrying out the transmission in the network.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) does not apply if the information is stored for longer than is reasonably necessary for the transmission.

Exception for cachingN.I.

2.(1) A service provider does not commit an offence under section 5 by storing information provided by a recipient of the service for transmission in a communication network if the first and second conditions are met.

(2) The first condition is that the storage of the information—

(a)is automatic, intermediate and temporary, and

(b)is solely for the purpose of making more efficient the onward transmission of the information to other recipients of the service at their request.

(3) The second condition is that the service provider—

(a)does not modify the information,

(b)complies with any conditions attached to having access to the information, and

(c)if sub-paragraph (4) applies, promptly removes the information or disables access to it.

(4) This sub-paragraph applies if the service provider obtains actual knowledge that—

(a)the information at the initial source of the transmission has been removed from the network,

(b)access to it has been disabled, or

(c)a court or administrative authority has ordered the removal from the network of, or the disablement of access to, the information.

Exception for hostingN.I.

3.(1) A service provider does not commit an offence under section 5 by storing information provided by a recipient of the service if—

(a)the service provider had no actual knowledge when the information was provided that its provision constituted an offence under section 5, or

(b)on obtaining actual knowledge that the information constituted such an offence, the service provider promptly removed the information or disabled access to it.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply if the recipient of the service is acting under the authority or control of the service provider.

InterpretationN.I.

4.  In this Schedule—

information society service” means any service normally provided—

(a)

for remuneration,

(b)

at a distance (namely, the service is provided without the parties being simultaneously present),

(c)

by electronic means (namely, the service is—

(i)

sent initially and received at its destination by means of electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and

(ii)

entirely transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, radio, optical means or other electromagnetic means), and

(d)

at the individual request of a recipient of services (namely, the service is provided through the transmission of data on individual request);

recipient”, in relation to a service, means a person who, for professional ends or otherwise, uses an information society service, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible;

service provider” means a person providing an information society service..

Commencement Information

I7S. 11 not in operation at Royal Assent, see s. 30(2)

I8S. 11 in operation at 28.9.2023 by S.R. 2023/142, art. 3

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

Explanatory Notes

Text created by the Northern Ireland Assembly department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes accompany all Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources