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What is the Official Secrets Act?

The Official Secrets Act is a piece of law that protects state secrets and official information that isn’t disclosed to the public. The main aim of the Official Secrets Act 1911 (updated in 1989) is to protect against espionage. This law usually comes into effect to cover acts of spying by employees or former employees of UK security or the secret service.

What information is protected?

There are six categories of protected information:

Security and intelligence - It is a criminal offence for security and intelligence services to release information about security and intelligence without permission;
Defence - It is a criminal offence to release information that damages the armed forces. The Act sets criteria that define what is ‘damaging’ and require the Attorney General to prove that a disclosure is damaging;

International Relations - This means relations between two states, for example America and the UK or between state and an international organisation. It is a criminal offence to release is information that endangers the interests of the UK abroad or endangers British citizens abroad;
Crime and Special Investigation Powers - It is a criminal offence to release information in relation to an ongoing crime. So, it is a criminal offence to release information if it results in an offence, allows an escape of someone in legal custody, or stops or prevents the prosecution of someone who is suspected of an offence;
Information Relating from Unauthorised Disclosures - It is a criminal offence to release sensitive information where the person releasing it has not gained permission from a Government official to do so;
Information Entrusted in Confidence to Other States or International Organisations - It is a criminal offence to release information about security, intelligence, defence or international relations to another state or international organisation.

What are the penalties for releasing this information?

Prosecutions under the Official Secrets Act are very rare and only happen about once a year. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. There is an exception for crimes relating to spying, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

Changes to the Act

The last time the Official Secrets Act was updated was in 1989. With improvements in technology, the Law Commission wants to update the law so that it is a better fit for modern society. For example, spying and information leaks have increased in frequency and severity. A single piece of information could contain lots of important information that should not be released, for example in major cyber attacks.

Source: The law Commission website

The Law Commission also want to change the law so that it is less restrictive. At the moment, if someone who is not a British national commits an offence relating to the Official Secrets Act when they are abroad, they would not be deemed guilty.

Additionally, the Law Commission want to ensure that the person leaking the information must have known that leaking the information would cause damage. Therefore those that leak private information without realising the damage it would cause would not be punished for doing so.

One of the main changes they want to make to the act is a ‘public interest defence’ available for anyone including civilians and journalists who leak information. If the information is in the public interest, the person who has released the information would not be found guilty.

If these changes go ahead, it will be easier for people to report these kinds of crimes, and those guilty of leaking protected information in full knowledge of the damage it would cause will likely be subject to longer prison sentences.

Written by Hannah Carpenter