The Official Secrets Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo 5 c 75) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

Section 1 – Unauthorised use of uniforms; falsification of reports, forgery, personation, and false documents

Sections 1(1) and (2) provide: "Misdemeanour" See the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

, the

Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 The Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c 18) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Criminal Law Act 1967 for Northern Ireland. Section 2 This section was repealed barticle 90(2)of, and Pa ...

and section 8(2) of this Act. Sentence A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding the

prescribed sum The prescribed sum is the maximum fine that may be imposed on summary conviction of certain offences in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is now equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale, which it predates. In Scot ...

, or to both.The Official Secrets Act 1920, section 8(2); the

Criminal Justice Act 1948 The Criminal Justice Act 1948 () is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Overview It is "one of the most important measures relating to the reform of the criminal law and its administration". It abolished: * penal servitude, har ...

, section 1(2); the

Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a consolidation Act.The Public General Acts and General Synod Measures 1980. HMSO. London. . Part IV. Pages ''i'', ''j'' and i. It codifies the p ...

section 32(2)
the

Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 Criminal Justice Act (with its many variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom relating to the criminal law (including both substantive and procedural aspects of that ...

, section 1(2); the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975, section 221(2).

Section 2 – Communications with foreign agents to be evidence of commission of certain offences

This section creates a rule of evidence in prosecutions under section 1 of the 1911 Act. Section 2(1) provides: See R v Kent 9411 KB 454, 28 Cr App R 23, 57 TLR 307, CCA "The principal Act" This means the

Official Secrets Act 1911 The Official Secrets Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo 5 c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889. The Act was introduced in response to public alarm at reports of wide-scale espionage, some of them ...

(see section 1 above).

Section 3 – Interfering with officers of the police or members of His Majesty’s forces

This section provides: "In the vicinity of" This expression means "in or in the vicinity of". "Prohibited place" This expression is defined by section 3 of the

. "Chief officer ... of police" See section 11(1A) of this Act, section 101(1) of the

Police Act 1996 The Police Act 1996c 16 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the current police areas in England and Wales, constituted police authorities for those areas, and set out the relationship between the Home Secretary and th ...

and Schedule 1 to the

Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision for the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Assembly, subord ...

. "Superintendent ... of police" See section 12 of the

, which is applicable by virtue of section 11(1) of this Act. "Misdemeanour" See the

, the

, or to both.

Section 6 – Duty of giving information as to commission of offences

This section was substituted by section 1 of the

Official Secrets Act 1939 The Official Secrets Act 1939 (2 & 3 Geo. 6 c. 121) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It substitutes a new section 6 into the Official Secrets Act 1920, which limits the scope of that offence to offences under section 1 of the O ...

. It now provides: References to a chief officer of police, a Secretary of State and the rank of inspector Se
section 2(2)
of the Official Secrets Act 1939. "Misdemeanour" See the

, the

, or to both.

Section 7 – Attempts, incitements, &c.

This section
provides: "The principal Act" This means the

. (see section 1) "Aids or abets and does any act preparatory" The word "and" in this expression must be read as "or". This is necessary in order to make intelligible sense of the section. See also ''R v Bingham''

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias (Domestic of the S ...

QB 870, 57 Cr App R 439,

2 WLR 520,

2 All ER 89,

Crim LR 309, CA Doing an act preparatory to the commission of a crime is not necessarily a crime in any part of the United Kingdom. This offence is an exception.

Section 8 – Provisions as to trial and punishment of offences

This section provides the penalties for the offences under this Act and under the

Section 8(2)

The words omitted were repealed for

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

by section 1(2) of the

(c. 58), for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

by section 1(2) of the

, and for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

by section 221(2) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21). "The Summary Jurisdiction Acts" The effect of section 17(2)(a) of the

is that the reference to the

Summary Jurisdiction Acts may refer to: * Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences * Epitome, a summary or miniature form * Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...

must be construed as a reference to the

"Fifty pounds" The reference to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds must be construed as a reference to a fine not exceeding the

.The

, section 32(2).

Section 8(4)

See ''Attorney General v Leveller Magazine Ltd''

979 Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...

AC 440, 68 Cr App R 343,

2 WLR 247,

1 All ER 745,

Crim LR 247, HL, reversing

QB 31,

978 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...

3 WLR 395,

3 All ER 731,

Crim LR 627, DC

References

External links

The Official Secrets Act 1920
as amended from

Legislation.gov.uk legislation.gov.uk, formerly known as the UK Statute Law Database, is the official web-accessible database of the statute law of the United Kingdom, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force since 1267 and a ...

.
The Official Secrets Act 1920
as originally enacted from Legislation.gov.uk. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1920 Classified information in the United Kingdom