Page 274 - Law and the Media

Official Secrets
created by Section 5 of the 1989 OSA. In addition, it is possible to be charged with inciting
or aiding and abetting an offence under Section 1 to 4 of the 1989 OSA.

Section 5 directly impacts on those in the media. It is an offence for any person to disclose
without lawful authority any information, document or other article that:

Falls within the protected classes to which Sections 1 to 4 apply
Has come into his possession as a result of unauthorized disclosure by those
persons to whom Sections 1 to 4 apply
Has come into his possession as a result of unauthorized disclosure by someone to
whom the information was properly entrusted in confidence by a Section 1 to 4
person.

In order to secure a conviction under Section 5, the burden of proof imposed upon the
prosecution is of the highest order. It must be proved that the disclosure was damaging within
the meaning laid down in the other Sections of the 1989 OSA and that the accused person
disclosed the information knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that:

It fell within the protected categories described in Sections 1 to 4
It had come into his or her possession as a result of an unauthorized disclosure as
described in the second or third categories above
The disclosure would be damaging.

Section 6: Information entrusted in confidence to other states or international
organizations
Section 3 protects confidential information obtained from a foreign state or international
organization. Section 6 affords protection to information travelling in the opposite direction
– in other words, sensitive material that the United Kingdom entrusts in confidence to the
governments or government departments of other countries.

Like Section 5, Section 6 also impacts upon those outside government service. It can
therefore be used against the media. In one respect it is wider than Section 5, since for the
offence to be committed it is not necessary that the information came from a Crown servant
or government contractor.

Section 6 makes it an offence for a person to make a damaging disclosure without lawful
authority of any information, document or other article that:

‘. . . relates to security or intelligence, defence or international relations’
Has been communicated in confidence by or on behalf of the United Kingdom to
another state or to an international organization.

The prosecution must prove that:

The information came into the accused’s possession without the authority of the
relevant foreign state or international organization to whom it was entrusted and
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