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Exclusion of matters from legal proceedings. |
16. - (1) Subject to section 17, no evidence shall be adduced, question asked, assertion or disclosure made or other thing done in, for the purposes of or in connection with any legal proceedings which (in any manner)- |
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(a) discloses, in circumstances from which its origin in anything falling within subsection (2) may be inferred, any of the contents of an intercepted communication or any related communications data; or |
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(b) tends (apart from any such disclosure) to suggest that anything falling within subsection (2) has or may have occurred or be going to occur. |
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(2) The following fall within this subsection- |
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(a) conduct by a person falling within subsection (3) that was or would be an offence under section 1(1) or (2) of this Act or under section 1 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985; |
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(b) a breach by the Secretary of State of his duty under section 1(4) of this Act; |
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(c) the issue of an interception warrant or of a warrant under the Interception of Communications Act 1985; |
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(d) the making of an application by any person for an interception warrant, or for a warrant under that Act; |
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(e) the imposition of any requirement on any person to provide assistance with giving effect to an interception warrant. |
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(3) The persons referred to in subsection (2)(a) are- |
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(a) any person to whom a warrant under this Chapter may be addressed; |
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(b) any person holding office under the Crown; |
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(c) any member of the National Criminal Intelligence Service; |
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(d) any member of the National Crime Squad; |
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(e) any person employed by or for the purposes of a police force; |
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(f) any person providing a postal service or employed for the purposes of any business of providing such a service; and |
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(g) any person providing a public telecommunications service or employed for the purposes of any business of providing such a service. |
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(4) In this section "intercepted communication" means any communication intercepted in the course of its transmission by means of a postal service or telecommunication system. |
Exceptions to section 16. |
17. - (1) Section 16(1) shall not apply in relation to- |
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(a) any proceedings for a relevant offence; |
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(b) any civil proceedings under section 11(8); |
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(c) any proceedings before the Tribunal; or |
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(d) any proceedings before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. |
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(2) Section 16(1) shall not prohibit anything done in, for the purposes of, or in connection with, so much of any legal proceedings as relates to the fairness or unfairness of a dismissal on the grounds of any conduct constituting an offence under section 1(1) or (2), 11(7) or 18 of this Act, or section 1 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. |
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(3) Section 16(1)(a) shall not prohibit the disclosure of any of the contents of a communication if the interception of that communication was lawful by virtue of section 1(5)(c), 3 or 4. |
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(4) Section 16(1)(b) shall not prohibit the doing of anything that discloses any conduct of a person for which he has been convicted of an offence under section 1(1) or (2), 11(7) or 18 of this Act, or section 1 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. |
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(5) Nothing in section 16(1) shall prohibit any such disclosure of any information that continues to be available for disclosure as is confined to- |
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(a) a disclosure to a person conducting a criminal prosecution for the purpose only of enabling that person to determine what is required of him by his duty to secure the fairness of the prosecution; or |
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(b) a disclosure to a relevant judge in a case in which that judge has ordered the disclosure to be made to him alone. |
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(6) A relevant judge shall not order a disclosure under subsection (5)(b) except where he is satisfied that the exceptional circumstances of the case make the disclosure essential in the interests of justice. |
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(7) Subject to subsection (8), where in any criminal proceedings- |
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(a) a relevant judge does order a disclosure under subsection (5)(b), and |
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(b) in consequence of that disclosure he is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances requiring him to do so, |
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he may direct the person conducting the prosecution to make for the purposes of the proceedings any such admission of fact as that judge thinks essential in the interests of justice. |
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(8) Nothing in any direction under subsection (7) shall authorise or require anything to be done in contravention of section 16(1). |
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(9) In this section "a relevant judge" means- |
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(a) any judge of the High Court or of the Crown Court or any Circuit judge; |
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(b) any judge of the High Court of Justiciary or any sheriff; |
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(c) in relation to a court-martial, the judge advocate appointed in relation to that court-martial under section 84B of the Army Act 1955, section 84B of the Air Force Act 1955 or section 53B of the Naval Discipline Act 1957; or |
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(d) any person holding any such judicial office as entitles him to exercise the jurisdiction of a judge falling within paragraph (a) or (b). |
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(10) In this section "relevant offence" means- |
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(a) an offence under any provision of this Act; |
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(b) an offence under section 1 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985; |
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(c) an offence under section 5 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949; |
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(d) an offence under section 45 of the Telegraph Act 1863, section 20 of the Telegraph Act 1868 or section 58 of the Post Office Act 1953; |
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(e) an offence under section 45 of the Telecommunications Act 1984; |
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(f) an offence under section 4 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 relating to any such information, document or article as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a) of that section; |
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(g) an offence under section 1 or 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 relating to any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information which incorporates or relates to the contents of any intercepted communication or any related communications data or tends to suggest as mentioned in section 16(1)(b) of this Act; |
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(h) perjury committed in the course of any proceedings mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of this section; |
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(i) attempting or conspiring to commit, or aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of, an offence falling within any of the preceding paragraphs; and |
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(j) contempt of court committed in the course of, or in relation to, any proceedings mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of this section. |
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(11) In subsection (10) "intercepted communication" has the same meaning as in section 16. |
Offence for unauthorised disclosures. |
18. - (1) Where an interception warrant has been issued or renewed, it shall be the duty of every person falling within subsection (2) to keep secret all the matters mentioned in subsection (3). |
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(2) The persons falling within this subsection are- |
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(a) the persons specified in section 6(2); |
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(b) every person holding office under the Crown; |
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(c) every member of the National Criminal Intelligence Service; |
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(d) every member of the National Crime Squad; |
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(e) every person employed by or for the purposes of a police force; |
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(f) persons providing postal services or employed for the purposes of any business of providing such a service; |
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(g) persons providing public telecommunications services or employed for the purposes of any business of providing such a service; |
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(h) persons having control of the whole or any part of a telecommunication system located wholly or partly in the United Kingdom. |
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(3) Those matters are- |
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(a) the existence and contents of the warrant and of any section 8(3) certificate in relation to the warrant; |
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(b) the details of the issue of the warrant and of any renewal or modification of the warrant or of any such certificate; |
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(c) the existence and contents of any requirement to provide assistance with giving effect to the warrant; |
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(d) the steps taken in pursuance of the warrant or of any such requirement; and |
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(e) everything in the intercepted material, together with any related communications data. |
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(4) A person who makes a disclosure to another of anything that he is required to keep secret under this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable- |
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(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine, or to both; |
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(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both. |
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(5) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it shall be a defence for that person to show that he could not reasonably have been expected, after first becoming aware of the matter disclosed, to take steps to prevent the disclosure. |
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(6) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it shall be a defence for that person to show that- |
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(a) the disclosure was made by or to a professional legal adviser in connection with the giving, by the adviser to any client of his, of advice about the effect of provisions of this Chapter; and |
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(b) the person to whom or, as the case may be, by whom it was made was the client or a representative of the client. |
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(7) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it shall be a defence for that person to show that the disclosure was made by a legal adviser- |
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(a) in contemplation of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings; and |
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(b) for the purposes of those proceedings. |
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(8) Neither subsection (6) nor subsection (7) applies in the case of a disclosure made with a view to furthering any criminal purpose. |
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(9) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section in respect of any disclosure, it shall be a defence for that person to show that the disclosure was authorised- |
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(a) by the warrant or the person to whom the warrant is or was addressed; |
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(b) by the terms of the requirement to provide assistance; or |
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| Interpretation of Chapter I |
Interpretation of Chapter I. |
19. In this Chapter- |
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"certified", in relation to a section 8(3) certificate, means of a description certified by the certificate as a description of material the examination of which the Secretary of State considers necessary; |
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"external communication" means a communication sent or received outside the British Islands; |
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"intercepted material", in relation to an interception warrant, means the contents of any communications intercepted by an interception to which the warrant relates; |
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"the interception subject", in relation to an interception warrant, means the person about whose communications information is sought by the interception to which the warrant relates; |
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"international mutual assistance agreement" means an international agreement designated for the purposes of section 1(4); |
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"related communications data", in relation to a communication intercepted in the course of its transmission by means of a postal service or telecommunication system, means so much of any communications data (within the meaning of Chapter II of this Part) as- |
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(a) is obtained by, or in connection with, the interception; and
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(b) relates to the communication or to the sender or recipient, or intended recipient, of the communication;
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"section 8(3) certificate" means any certificate issued for the purposes of section 8(3). |