Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

Unauthorised disclosure of information obtained under section 73 or 74

76.—(1) An employee of a council commits an offence if the employee discloses without lawful authority any information—

(a) which the employee acquired in the course of his or her employment,

(b) which is, or is derived from, information provided to the council under section 73 or 74, and

(c) which relates to particular living accommodation or a particular person.

(2) It is not an offence under this section to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority.

(3) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that, at the time of the alleged offence, the person believed—

(a) that the disclosure in question was being made with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise, or

(b) that the information in question had previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.

(4) For these purposes a disclosure of information is made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—

(a) by an employee of the council in accordance with the employee’s official duties,

(b) in accordance with any statutory provision or order of a court,

(c) for the purposes of any criminal proceedings, or

(d) with the consent of the person to whom the information relates.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.