Official Secrets Act 1989

E98629

The Official Secrets Act 1989 is a UK law that criminalizes the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive government and security information by officials, journalists, and others.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (66)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom statute
administeredBy UK government
amends Official Secrets Act 1911
appliesTo Crown servants
government contractors
members of the security and intelligence services
other persons receiving official information in confidence
appliesToInformation defence information
information useful to criminals or terrorists
international relations information
security and intelligence information
canAffect civil servants
journalists
members of the armed forces
citation 1989 c. 6
commencementDate 1989-08-01
country United Kingdom
criminalizes unauthorized disclosure of official information
definesOffence disclosure relating to crime and special investigation powers
disclosure relating to defence
disclosure relating to international relations
disclosure relating to security or intelligence
further disclosure of protected information
unauthorized disclosure by government contractors
jurisdiction United Kingdom
languageOfText English
legalArea constitutional law
criminal law
maximumPenaltyOnIndictment 2 years imprisonment
fine
parliament British Parliament
surface form: Parliament of the United Kingdom
purpose to protect sensitive official information from unauthorized disclosure
region England and Wales
Northern Ireland
Scotland
relatedLegislation Official Secrets Act 1911
Official Secrets Act 1920
Official Secrets Act 1939
removesDefence public interest defence
repealed false
replaced Official Secrets Act 1989 self-linksurface differs
surface form: Official Secrets Act 1911 section 2
replacesMensReaStandardOf Official Secrets Act 1911
surface form: Official Secrets Act 1911 section 2
royalAssentDate 1989-05-11
section section 1
section 10
section 11
section 12
section 13
section 14
section 15
section 16
section 2
section 3
section 4
section 5
section 6
section 7
section 8
section 9
shortTitle Official Secrets Act 1989 self-link
subjectMatter government information
national security
official secrets
state security
yearEnacted 1989

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

British press subjectTo Official Secrets Act 1989
British intelligence legalFramework Official Secrets Act 1989
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston subjectTo Official Secrets Act 1989
this entity surface form: Official Secrets Act (United Kingdom)
Official Secrets Act 1989 shortTitle Official Secrets Act 1989 self-link
Official Secrets Act 1989 replaced Official Secrets Act 1989 self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Official Secrets Act 1911 section 2
Security Service Act 1989 relatedTo Official Secrets Act 1989