13 Offences.
(1)
Any person who—
(a)
contravenes any of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, subsection (1) of section one, subsection (1) of section three, subsections (1), (2) and (3) of section six, and subsection (1) of section seven, or
(b)
being a person registered under section one or section three of this Act, or being (wholly or partly) exempted from registration thereunder, does not comply with a limitation or condition subject to which he is so registered or exempted, or
(c)
being a person to whom an authorisation under section six or section seven of this Act has been granted, does not comply with a limitation or condition subject to which that authorisation has effect, F1, or
(d)
being a person who is registered under section one or section three of this Act or to whom an authorisation under section six or section seven of this Act has been granted, fails to comply with any requirement of a notice served on him under section 11B or 11C of this Act
shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection.
(2)
A person guilty of an offence under the preceding subsection shall be liable—
(a)
on summary conviction F2to a fine not exceeding £20,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both
(b)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.
(3)
If any person discloses any information relating to any relevant process or trade secret used in carrying on any particular undertaking which has been given to or obtained by him under this Act or in connection with the execution thereof, he shall, unless the disclosure is made—
(a)
with the consent of the person carrying on that undertaking, or
(b)
in accordance with any general or special directions given by the F3chief inspector, or
(c)
in connection with the execution of this Act, or
(d)
for the purposes of any legal proceedings arising out of this Act or of any report of any such proceedings,
be guilty of an offence under this subsection.
In this subsection “relevant process” means any process applied for the purposes of, or in connection with, the production or use of radioactive material.
(4)
A person guilty of an offence under the last preceding subsection shall be liable—
(a)
on summary conviction, to a fine not F4exceeding the statutory maximum, or toimprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both;
(b)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.
F5(4A)
Any person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed on him under section 8A of this Act shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable—
(a)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both;
(b)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.
(5)
Any person who—
(a)
contravenes the provisions of subsection (3) of section eleven of this Act, or
(b)
F6intentionally obstructs an inspector or other person in the exercise of any powers conferred by F7section 12 of this Act, or refuses or without reasonable excuse fails to provide F8facilities or assistance or any information or to permit any inspection reasonably required by an inspector or other person under that section,
shall be guilty of an offence, F9and shall be liable—
(i)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
(ii)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(6)
Any person who without reasonable cause pulls down, injures or defaces any document posted in pursuance of subsection (3) of section eleven of this Act shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F10level 2 on the standard scale.
(7)
Proceedings in respect of any offence under this Act shall not be instituted in England or Wales except by the F11Secretary of State, the chief inspectoror by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
(8)
Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this section, and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
In this subsection “director”, in relation to a body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate.
F12(9)
Where the commission by any person of an offence under this section is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this subsection whether or not proceedings for the offence are taken against the first-mentioned person.