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| Defence. |
24. - (1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice-
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(a) the defence of the British Islands or of any colony, or |
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(b) the capability, effectiveness or security of any relevant forces. |
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(2) In subsection (1)(b) "relevant forces" means-
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(a) the armed forces of the Crown, and |
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(b) any forces co-operating with those forces, |
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or any part of any of those forces.
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(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
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| International relations. |
25. - (1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice-
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(a) relations between the United Kingdom and any other State, |
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(b) relations between the United Kingdom and any international organisation or international court, |
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(c) the interests of the United Kingdom abroad, or |
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(d) the promotion or protection by the United Kingdom of its interests abroad. |
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(2) Information is also exempt information if it is confidential information obtained from a State other than the United Kingdom or from an international organisation or international court.
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(3) For the purposes of this section, any information obtained from a State, organisation or court is confidential at any time while the terms on which it was obtained require it to be held in confidence or while the circumstances in which it was obtained make it reasonable for the State, organisation or court to expect that it will be so held.
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(4) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a)-
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(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1), or |
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(b) would involve the disclosure of any information (whether or not already recorded) which is confidential information obtained from a State other than the United Kingdom or from an international organisation or international court. |
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(5) In this section-
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"international court" means any international court which is not an international organisation and which is established- |
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(a) by a resolution of an international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member, or
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(b) by an international agreement to which the United Kingdom is a party;
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"international organisation" means any international organisation whose members include any two or more States, or any organ of such an organisation; |
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"State" includes the government of any State and any organ of its government, and references to a State other than the United Kingdom include references to any territory outside the United Kingdom. |
| Relations within the United Kingdom. |
26. - (1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice, relations between any administration in the United Kingdom and any other such administration.
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(2) In subsection (1) "administration in the United Kingdom" means-
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(a) the government of the United Kingdom, |
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(b) the Scottish Administration, |
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(c) the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly, or |
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(d) the National Assembly for Wales. |
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(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
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| The economy. |
27. - (1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice-
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(a) the economic interests of the United Kingdom or of any part of the United Kingdom, or |
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(b) the financial interests of any administration in the United Kingdom, as defined by section 26(2). |
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(2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
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| Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities. |
28. - (1) Information held by a public authority is exempt information if it has at any time been held by the authority for the purposes of-
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(a) any investigation which the public authority has a duty to conduct with a view to it being ascertained- |
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(i) whether a person should be charged with an offence, or
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(ii) whether a person charged with an offence is guilty of it,
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(b) any investigation which is conducted by the authority and in the circumstances may lead to a decision by the authority to institute criminal proceedings which the authority has power to conduct, or |
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(c) any criminal proceedings which the authority has power to conduct. |
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(2) Information held by a public authority is exempt information if-
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(a) it was obtained or recorded by the authority for the purposes of its functions relating to- |
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(i) investigations falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b),
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(ii) criminal proceedings which the authority has power to conduct,
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(iii) investigations (other than investigations falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b)) which are conducted by the authority for any of the purposes specified in section 29(2) and either by virtue of Her Majesty's prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under any enactment, or
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(iv) civil proceedings which are brought by or on behalf of the authority and arise out of such investigations, and
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(b) it relates to the obtaining of information from confidential sources. |
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(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to information which is (or if it were held by the public authority would be) exempt information by virtue of subsection (1) or (2).
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(4) In relation to the institution or conduct of criminal proceedings or the power to conduct them, references in subsection (1)(b) or (c) and subsection (2)(a) to the public authority include references-
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(a) to any officer of the authority, |
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(b) in the case of a government department other than a Northern Ireland department, to the Minister of the Crown in charge of the department, and |
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(c) in the case of a Northern Ireland department, to the Northern Ireland Minister in charge of the department. |
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(5) In this section-
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"criminal proceedings" includes- |
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(a) proceedings in the United Kingdom or elsewhere before a court-martial constituted under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 or the Naval Discipline Act 1957 or a disciplinary court constituted under section 52G of the Act of 1957,
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(b) proceedings before the Courts-Martial Appeal Court, and
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(c) proceedings before a Standing Civilian Court;
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"offence" includes any offence under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 or the Naval Discipline Act 1957. |
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(6) In the application of this section to Scotland-
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(a) in subsection (1)(b), for the words from "a decision" to the end there is substituted "a decision by the authority to make a report to the procurator fiscal for the purpose of enabling him to determine whether criminal proceedings should be instituted", |
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(b) in subsections (1)(c) and (2)(a)(ii) for "which the authority has power to conduct" substitute "which have been instituted in consequence of a report made by the authority to the procurator fiscal", and |
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(c) for any reference to a person being charged with an offence there is substituted a reference to the person being prosecuted for the offence. |
| Law enforcement. |
29. - (1) Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 28 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice-
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(a) the prevention or detection of crime, |
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(b) the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, |
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(c) the administration of justice, |
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(d) the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similar nature, |
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(e) the operation of the immigration controls, |
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(f) the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutions where persons are lawfully detained, |
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(g) the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), |
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(h) any civil proceedings which are brought by or on behalf of a public authority and arise out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty's prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment, or |
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(i) any inquiry held under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976 to the extent that the inquiry arises out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty's prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment. |
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(2) The purposes referred to in subsection (1)(g) to (i) are-
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(a) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law, |
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(b) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is improper, |
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(c) the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise, |
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(d) the purpose of ascertaining a person's fitness or competence in relation to the management of bodies corporate or in relation to any profession or other activity which he is, or seeks to become, authorised to carry on, |
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(e) the purpose of ascertaining the cause of an accident, |
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(f) the purpose of protecting charities against misconduct or mismanagement (whether by trustees or other persons) in their administration, |
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(g) the purpose of protecting the property of charities from loss or misapplication, |
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(h) the purpose of recovering the property of charities, |
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(i) the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work, and |
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(j) the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the actions of persons at work. |
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(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
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