Serious Crime Act 2007

70 Penalty and prosecution for offence under section 69 U.K.

(1) A person who commits an offence under section 69 is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both;

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

(2) A prosecution for an offence under section 69 may be begun in England and Wales [F1 only by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions]

(3) A prosecution for an offence under section 69 may be begun in Northern Ireland only—

(a) in the case of revenue and customs information disclosed by Revenue and Customs—

(i) by the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs; or

(ii) with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland; and

(b) in any other case, with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(4) If an offence under section 69 committed by a body corporate or a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of—

(a) an officer of the body corporate or (as the case may be) a partner or a senior officer of the partnership; or

(b) a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity;

he (as well as the body corporate or partnership) is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(5) In the application of subsection (1)(a) in Northern Ireland, the reference to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

[F2 (5A) In the application of subsection (1)(a) in England and Wales, the reference to 12 months is to be read as a reference to the general limit in a magistrates’ court subject to paragraph 8 of Schedule 13.]

(6) In this section—

• “body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership;

• “Commissioners of Revenue and Customs”, “Revenue and Customs” and “revenue and customs information” have the same meaning as in section 69;

• “director”, in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate;

• “officer of a body corporate” means any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate; and

• “senior officer of a partnership” means any person who has the control or management of the business carried on by the partnership at the principal place where it is carried on.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 70(2) substituted (27.3.2014) by The Public Bodies (Merger of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of Revenue and Customs Prosecutions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/834), art. 1(1), Sch. 2 para. 50

F2 S. 70(5A) inserted (7.2.2023 at 12.00 p.m.) by The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/149), regs. 1(2), 14(3)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 70 in force at 1.10.2008 by S.I. 2008/2504, art. 2(c)