Miscellaneous and supplemental

I150 Unauthorised disclosure of information.

1

Any person who is, or has been, employed in employment to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if, without lawful authority, he discloses any information which—

a

was acquired by him in the course of that employment; and

b

relates to a particular person.

2

It is not an offence under this section—

a

to disclose information in the form of a summary or collection of information so framed as not to enable information relating to any particular person to be ascertained from it; or

b

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 prove that at the time of the alleged offence—

a

he believed that he was making the disclosure in question with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise; or

b

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

4

A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

a

on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both; or

b

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.

5

This section applies to employment as—

a

the Chief Child Support Officer;

b

any other child support officer;

c

any clerk to, or other officer of, F1an appeal tribunal or a child support appeal tribunal;

d

any member of the staff of such a tribunal;

e

a civil servant in connection with the carrying out of any functions under this Act,

and to employment of any other kind which is prescribed for the purposes of this section.

6

For the purposes of this section a disclosure is to be regarded as made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—

a

by a civil servant in accordance with his official duty; or

b

by any other person either—

i

for the purposes of the function in the exercise of which he holds the information and without contravening any restriction duly imposed by the responsible person; or

ii

to, or in accordance with an authorisation duly given by, the responsible person;

c

in accordance with any enactment or order of a court;

d

for the purpose of instituting, or otherwise for the purposes of, any proceedings before a court or before any tribunal or other body or person mentioned in this Act; or

e

with the consent of the appropriate person.

7

“The responsible person” means—

a

the Lord Chancellor;

b

the Secretary of State;

c

any person authorised by the Lord Chancellor, or Secretary of State, for the purposes of this subsection; or

d

any other prescribed person, or person falling within a prescribed category.

8

“The appropriate person” means the person to whom the information in question relates, except that if the affairs of that person are being dealt with—

a

under a power of attorney;

b

by a receiver appointed under section 99 of the M1Mental Health Act 1983;

c

by a Scottish mental health custodian, that is to say—

i

a curator bonis, tutor or judicial factor; or

ii

the managers of a hospital acting on behalf of that person under section 94 of the M2Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984; or

d

by a mental health appointee, that is to say—

i

a person directed or authorised as mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) of rule 41(1) of the M3Court of Protection Rules 1984; or

ii

a receiver ad interim appointed under sub-paragraph (b) of that rule;

the appropriate person is the attorney, receiver, custodian or appointee (as the case may be) or, in a case falling within paragraph (a), the person to whom the information relates.