Nuclear Safeguards Bill [H.L.]

Nuclear Safeguards Bill [H.L.] - continued	House of Commons

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Restriction on disclosure.	6. - (1) This section applies to information if-
	(a) it is obtained by any person under, or in connection with anything done under, this Act or the Additional Protocol; and
	(b) it relates to a particular business or other activity carried on by any person.
	(2) So long as the business or activity continues to be carried on the information shall not be disclosed except-
	(a) with the consent of the person for the time being carrying on the business or activity;
	(b) in connection with anything done for the purposes of this Act, the Additional Protocol or the Safeguards Agreement;
	(c) in connection with the investigation of a criminal offence or for the purposes of criminal proceedings;
	(d) in connection with the enforcement of a restriction on imports or exports;
	(e) in dealing with an emergency involving danger to the public; or
	(f) with a view to ensuring the security of the United Kingdom.
	(3) A person who discloses information in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence.
	(4) It is not an offence under this section to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the public otherwise than in contravention of this section.
	(5) A disclosure of any information to which this section applies may be made in circumstances in which any of paragraphs (b) to (f) of subsection (2) prevents there being a contravention of this section, notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction on disclosure that would otherwise apply.
Giving false or misleading information.	7. A person who knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular in giving-
	(a) any information to the Secretary of State or an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act or the Additional Protocol;
	(b) any information to the Secretary of State in response to a requirement of regulations under section 3; or
	(c) any information to an Agency inspector exercising powers under section 5,
	is guilty of an offence.
Power to search and obtain evidence.	8. - (1) If-
	(a) a justice of the peace is satisfied on information on oath that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act is to be found on any premises, or
	(b) in Scotland a justice (within the meaning of section 307 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995) is satisfied by evidence on oath as mentioned in paragraph (a) above,
	he may issue a warrant authorising an authorised officer to enter the premises, if necessary by force, at any time within one month from the time of the issue of the warrant and to search them.
	(2) The powers of an authorised officer who enters the premises under the authority of the warrant include power-
	(a) to take with him such other persons and such equipment as appear to him to be necessary;
	(b) to inspect anything found on the premises;
	(c) to require any information which is held in electronic form and is accessible from the premises to be produced in a form in which he can read and copy it;
	(d) to copy, or to seize and remove, any document or other thing which he has reasonable cause to believe may be required as evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act; and
	(e) to sample any substance found on the premises which he has reasonable cause to believe may be required as such evidence.
	(3) A constable who enters premises under the authority of a warrant or by virtue of subsection (2)(a) may-
	(a) give such assistance as an authorised officer may request for the purpose of facilitating the exercise of any power under this section; and
	(b) search or cause to be searched any person on the premises who the constable has reasonable cause to believe may have in his possession any document or other thing which may be required as evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act.
	(4) No constable shall, by virtue of subsection (3)(b), search a person of the opposite sex.
	(5) The powers conferred by a warrant under this section shall only be exercisable, if the warrant so provides, in the presence of a constable.
	(6) A person who-
	(a) wilfully obstructs an authorised officer in the exercise of a power conferred by a warrant under this section; or
	(b) fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a reasonable request made by an authorised officer or a constable for the purpose of facilitating the exercise of such a power,
	is guilty of an offence.
Penalty for offences and offences by bodies corporate.	9. - (1) A person guilty of an offence under any provision of this Act except section 6 or 7 is liable-
	(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and
	(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
	(2) A person guilty of an offence under section 6 or 7 is liable-
	(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and
	(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine (or both).
	(3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of-
	(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or
	(b) a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
	he as well as the body corporate is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
	(4) In subsection (3) "director", in the case of a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.
	(5) Where an offence under this Act committed by a Scottish partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, he as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Prepared 7 February 2000