Valid from 14/07/2008
[F1Restrictions on disclosureE+W
Textual Amendments
F1Sch. 3 paras. 6-8 inserted (14.7.2008) by Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c. 4), ss. 57(3), 153; S.I. 2008/1586, art. 2, Sch. 1
7(1)A person to whom information is disclosed under paragraph 6(5), or this sub-paragraph, may disclose the information to any person to whom its disclosure is necessary or expedient in connection with facilitating the making of a decision by the relevant authority about the application of paragraph 3B(1) or (2), or regulations under paragraph 3B(3), in relation to an individual.
(2)A person to whom such information is disclosed commits an offence if the person—
(a)discloses or uses the information, and
(b)the disclosure is not authorised by sub-paragraph (1) or (as the case may be) the use is not for the purpose of facilitating the making of such a decision as is mentioned in that sub-paragraph.
(3)But it is not an offence under sub-paragraph (2)—
(a)to disclose any information in accordance with any enactment or order of a court or for the purposes of any proceedings before a court; or
(b)to disclose any information which has previously been lawfully disclosed to the public.
(4)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under sub-paragraph (2) to prove that the person reasonably believed that the disclosure or use was lawful.
(5)A person guilty of an offence under sub-paragraph (2) is liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both;
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.
(6)In sub-paragraph (5)(b) the reference to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months in relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
(7)Nothing in section 20 applies in relation to the disclosure of information to which sub-paragraph (1) applies.]