An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security. OSAs are currently in-force in Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, and have previously existed in Canada and New Zealand, There were earlier English and British precedents, long before the acts enumerated here. As early as the 16th Century, following Francis Drake's circumnavigation, Queen Elizabeth I declared that all written accounts of Drake's voyages were to become the 'Queen's secrets of the Realm'. In addition, Drake and the other participants of his voyages were sworn to their secrecy on the pain of death; the Queen intended to keep Drake's activities away from the eyes of rival Spain.
Introduction
Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act | Introduction
It is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security. He was an atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British, and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly after World War II. It  is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security. It is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information.
who headed up the manhattan project in britain
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James Chadwick
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who is he?
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He was a British physicist.
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what was he known for?
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His discovery of the neutron.
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can you describe this thing he discovered?
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It is a subatomic particle, symbol or which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton.
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why was the above project started?
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It helped initiate the effort to build the first atomic bombs in the United States during World War II, and helped carry it through to completion in August 1945 by supplying crucial expertise.
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any other scientist were involved in it?
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Sir Geoffrey Taylor, James Tuck, Niels Bohr, Peierls, Frisch, and Klaus Fuchs
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what field did the last scientist study?
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Mathematics and physics
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why was he sent to prison?
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He was convicted on 1 March 1950 of four counts of breaking the Official Secrets Act by "communicating information to a potential enemy.
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what was the sentence announced by the court?
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14 years imprisonment
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can you explain the act that he broke?
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A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. Examples Hillaire Barnett described sentences for espionage as "swingeing".
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Sentence
This section now provides: The words in square brackets were substituted for the words "wilfully refuses" by section 10 of, and the First Schedule to, the Official Secrets Act 1920. The words at the end of this subsection were repealed by section 11(2) of, and the first paragraph of the Second Schedule to, the Official Secrets Act 1920. They are replaced by section 8(1) of that Act.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 7 - Penalty for harbouring spies
The Official Secrets Act 1951 (long title: "An Act to make better provision in respect of official secrets") was a statute of the New Zealand Parliament. It was based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911, and provided for criminal penalties for espionage and unauthorised releases of government information. The only prosecution under the espionage provisions of the Act was that of Bill Sutch, who was unsuccessfully prosecuted in 1974-5 following a series of clandestine meetings with KGB agent Dimitri Rasgovorov, an official of the Soviet Union's embassy in Wellington. At the trial the Security Intelligence Service was unable to provide details of what information had supposedly been passed, and Sutch was subsequently acquitted by the jury.
Official Secrets Act 1951 | Introduction
The Act was repealed in 1983 by the Official Information Act 1982.
Official Secrets Act 1951 | Introduction
The act, with its extremely wide-ranging powers, replaced the earlier Official Secrets Act 1889 that had provided criminal sanctions only for breaches which could be shown to be contrary to the public interest. Section 1 of the act contained tough provisions against espionage, which were extended by a 1962 Law Lords ruling to cover other activities such as sabotage and physical interference. Section 2 dealt with unauthorised disclosure of information held by servants of the State, making it a criminal offence to disclose "any" official information without lawful authority. It was only after nearly 80 years that the Official Secrets Act 1989 replaced this provision in the 1911 Act.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Background
He was sentenced to two years in prison on December 4, 1985. The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 1988. Morison became "the only [American] government official ever convicted for giving classified information to the press" up to that time. Following Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1998 appeal for a pardon for Morison, President Bill Clinton pardoned him on January 20, 2001, the last day of his presidency, despite the CIA's opposition to the pardon.
Espionage Act of 1917 | Morison
This section provides: "The principal Act" This means the Official Secrets Act 1911. (see section 1)
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 7 – Attempts, incitements, &c
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 Official Secrets Act 1911 (it had formerly applied to all offences under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and to all offences under that Act). It was enacted in reaction to the "Sandys affair" in 1938, when Duncan Sandys MP was threatened with prosecution under section 6 in an attempt to get him to disclose who had given him information about the inadequate state of the air defences around London.
Official Secrets Act 1939 | Introduction
The crucial break came when Alloway, short of funds, forged £96 worth of cheques from his employer – signing them “Arther Sutton” was a bit of a give-away. This crime gave police permission to enter Alloway’s home, where they found several letters in Alloway’s hand going back some years. This was enough to convict him and he was hanged in August 1922.
54 Parkside | History
This section provides the penalties for the offences under this Act and under the Official Secrets Act 1911.
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 8 – Provisions as to trial and punishment of offences
A Delhi court in a 2009 judgement, in a case involving the publication of excerpts of a cabinet note in the Financial Express ten years earlier by Santanu Saikia, greatly reduced the powers of the act by ruling publication of a document merely labelled "secret" shall not render the journalist liable under the law. Saikia was arrested in February, 2015 in another case that the police said involved the writing of stories and analyses from documents allegedly stolen from the government. He was released on bail in May after spending 80 days in jail.
Official Secrets Act (India) | Delhi court judgement in the case involving journalist Santanu Saikia
On 13 January 2004, the government withdrew its case against him to prevent having two of its ministries having to give contradictory opinions. Gilani was released the same month.
Official Secrets Act (India) | Iftikhar Gilani case
MI5/MI6).
Official Secrets Act | United Kingdom
This subsection reads as amended: The words in square brackets were inserted by section 10 of, and the First Schedule to, the Official Secrets Act 1920. The words at the end of this subsection were repealed by section 11(2) of, and the first paragraph of the Second Schedule to, the Official Secrets Act 1920. They are replaced by section 8(1) of that Act.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 1(1)
These transmitters were placed on the clips of classified documents, which were then followed to Bossard's desk, and eventually to the hotel he was using. Bossard was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act and received a trial at the Old Bailey on 10 May 1965, where he confessed and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Lord Chief Justice Hubert Parker informed Bossard: "It would be longer, and I emphasise this, but for the fact that you are now 52 years of age and that you have shown a degree of remorse by making a full confession extending far beyond the matters in respect of which you are charged".
Frank Bossard | Espionage
The Official Secrets Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 52) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It created offences of disclosure of information (section 1) and breach of official trust (section 2). It was replaced in the UK by the Official Secrets Act 1911. The Official Secrets Bill began its parliamentary procedures on 10 May 1888, achieving its royal assent on 26 August 1889. It was initiated by Lord George Hamilton PC First Lord of the Admiralty and Edward Stanhope (PC) Secretary of State for War. The bill was enacted by the Attorney General; Richard Webster to give increased powers against offences of disclosing confidential matters by officials, and to prevent the disclosure of such documents and information by spies, and/or to prevent breaches of official trust, in order to punish such offences of obtaining information and communicating it, against the interests of the British state.
Official Secrets Act 1889 | Introduction
This section creates a rule of evidence in prosecutions under section 1 of the 1911 Act. Section 2(1) provides: See R v Kent [1941] 1 KB 454, 28 Cr App R 23, 57 TLR 307, CCA
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 2 – Communications with foreign agents to be evidence of commission of certain offences
See section 6 of the Official Secrets Act 1920 and section 5(6) of the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Related offences
In August 2000, Shayler voluntarily returned to the UK on condition he was not remanded in custody pending his trial. He was arrested and subsequently released on bail. He was charged with three counts of breaching the Official Secrets Act 1989 on 21 September 2000, one charge of passing on information acquired from a telephone tap (a breach of Section Four of the Act), and two others of passing on information and documents obtained by virtue of his membership of the service (a breach of Section One of the Act). The judge at the trial was Alan Moses. At pre-trial hearings he ruled that Shayler had to disclose all information and argument he intended to present to the jury to the judge and prosecution beforehand.
David Shayler | Return and trial
The Official Secrets Act 1989 (c. 6) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repeals and replaces section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, thereby removing the public interest defence created by that section. Lord Bingham said that the white paper "Reform of Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911" (Cm. 408) (June 1988) was the immediate precursor of this Act and that its recommendations bear directly on the interpretation of this Act.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Introduction
On May 18, 1940, the US ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was informed of this development and agreed to waive Kent's diplomatic immunity. On May 20, Kent was arrested under the Official Secrets Act in a dawn raid at his flat. Officers of MI5 found 1,929 official documents there, and besides Churchill's cables was a book containing the names of people under surveillance by Special Branch and MI5. Searchers also found keys to the US embassy code room. Anna Wolkoff was arrested on the same day and charged with violating the same Act. On May 31, after 11 days of secret detention, the US State Department announced that Kent had been fired and "detained by order of the Home Secretary" but not that he had been arrested under the Official Secrets Act.
Tyler Kent | Arrest, trial and conviction
This section provides the procedure for making orders under the Act.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 14
In addition to the Official Secrets Acts, the Naval Discipline Act 1957 made it an offence to spy on-board Royal Navy ships or overseas bases. It was punishable by life imprisonment. This was a capital offence until 1981. 22 prosecutions occurred under the Official Secrets Act in Canada, over half of which were in relation to the Gouzenko Affair. In 1989, Stephen Joseph Ratkai was charged and convicted under the Act, of espionage in relation to the SOSUS network site at Naval Station Argentia in Newfoundland.
Official Secrets Act | Other legislation
Sections 1(1) and (2) provide: "Misdemeanour" See the Criminal Law Act 1967, the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 and section 8(2) of this Act.
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 1 – Unauthorised use of uniforms; falsification of reports, forgery, personation, and false documents
See "Attorney General v Leveller Magazine Ltd" [1979] AC 440, 68 Cr App R 343, [1979] 2 WLR 247, [1979] 1 All ER 745, [1979] Crim LR 247, HL, reversing [1979] QB 31, [1978] 3 WLR 395, [1978] 3 All ER 731, [1978] Crim LR 627, DC
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 8(4)
The Official Secrets Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo 5 c 75) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Introduction
At the time of the announcement on December 6, 2012 eighty-seven defendants had received prison sentences that in some cases exceeded 20 years. Particular prosecutions include Palm Polo Holdings Ltd, which was found not guilty after being charged with violations of the Clean Water Act A former army captain was convicted of Honest Services fraud for taking bribes in Iraq.
Operation Broken Trust | Results
In November 2012, the Tongliao Municipality People’s Court found Huuchinhuu guilty of leaking state secrets at a closed-door trial. Her sentence was delayed in contradiction to Article 111 of China's Criminal Law, which states that leaking state secrets is a crime with a sentence ranging from five years to life sentence. Huuchinhuu appealed her guilty verdict and was placed under house arrest again. As of January 2015, Huuchimhuu remained under house arrest.
Govruud Huuchinhuu | Trial
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 fomented by popular novels and plays that dramatized the threat, supposedly from Germany, at a time of a rapid naval expansion. Its provisions were extensive, with heavy penalties for any reporting or sketching of military, naval or air defence installations, or the harbouring of people suspected of gathering such intelligence. It has been amended several times; most importantly the "catch-all" provisions contained in section 2 of the Act were repealed and replaced by the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Introduction
This subsection applies to prosecutions under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1920 as it applies to prosecutions under section 1 of this Act. It now reads: The words in square brackets were inserted by the Official Secrets Act 1920.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 1(2)
The Act applies in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and in overseas crown territories and colonies. It also applies to British subjects anywhere else in the world. The Act was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by section 3 of the Official Secrets Act 1963.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Introduction
This section was repealed for the United Kingdom on 1 March 1990. It has been replaced for the United Kingdom by the Official Secrets Act 1989. Cases under this section Command papers on this section
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 2 - Wrongful communication, &c. of information
In September 1974, Sutch was arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act 1951 following a series of clandestine meetings with KGB agent Dimitri Rasgovorov, an official of the Soviet Union's embassy in Wellington. Sutch was the only New Zealander ever to stand trial under the espionage provisions of the Official Secrets Act, based on the British Act of 1951 and repealed in 1983. The SIS aimed to catch Sutch passing on information during a meeting at night in a public park, but did not detain Sutch until after Rasgovorov had left. They assumed Sutch would co-operate once caught red handed.
Bill Sutch | Charges under the Official Secrets Act
The Progressive", "Brandenburg v. Ohio", "New York Times Co. v. United States"). , enacted in 1951, makes dissemination of secret information involving cryptography, espionage, and surveillance illegal for all people, and is thus an "official secrets act" limited to those subjects. In the Republic of Ireland the Official Secrets Act, 1963 repealed previous British legislation of 1911 and 1920. The Official Secrets Act, as amended, applies to all civil servants and potentially anyone within the state. A suit may only be instigated at the approval of the Attorney General of Ireland, additionally proceedings may occur in camera but the verdict and any sentence must occur in public.
Official Secrets Act | Official Secrets Acts in other countries
Section 13(2) repealed the Official Secrets Act 1889. It was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1927 because it was spent by virtue of the Interpretation Act 1889 (effect of repeal).
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 13 - Short title and repeal
This section was substituted by section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1939. It now provides: References to a chief officer of police, a Secretary of State and the rank of inspector See section 2(2) of the Official Secrets Act 1939.
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 6 – Duty of giving information as to commission of offences
He later plead guilty for lying to FBI agents pursuing an investigation into the leak. On 17 January 2017, he was granted a full pardon in this case by President Obama, thus expunging his conviction.
Stuxnet | Media coverage
This is an indictable-only offence.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Mode of trial
This section now provides: The words omitted were repealed by section 1(1) of, and Part XII of Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986. The power conferred by this section has been exercised by the following Orders:
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 11- Saving for laws of British possessions
See section 7 of the Official Secrets Act 1920.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Inchoate offences
On 6 February, Fillon held a press conference at his campaign headquarters at which he "apologized to the French people" and acknowledged that he had committed an "error" in employing family members as parliamentary assistants, but appended that he "never broke the law". He also confirmed that his wife was employed as a parliamentary assistant for 15 years with an average monthly salary of €3,677, and argued that "her salary was perfectly justified because her activities were indispensable to my activities as an elected official", adding that everything reported by the press on the issue was "legal and transparent". He said he would not reimburse the payments received by his wife or children, and, saying that he had "nothing to hide", divulged his property holdings.
Fillon affair | Additional sums revealed (1–8 February)
This section provides that a prosecution for an offence under this Act may only be instituted by, or with the consent of, the Attorney General.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 8 - Restriction on prosecution
He was already in prison for fraud and the government decided there was insufficient evidence to bring him to trial, so no announcement or prosecution was made.
John Stonehouse | Introduction
Section 11(1) inserted section 24(2)(bb) into the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It also omitted the reference to the Official Secrets Act 1911 in section 24(2)(b) of that Act. It was repealed on 1 October 2002. The repeal was consequential on the replacement of section 24(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 with a new Schedule 1A to that Act.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 11(1)
Section 11(3) extends section 9(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1911 (which relates to search warrants).
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 11(3)
Following a high-profile trial, a jury acquitted Sutch of the charges in February 1975.
Bill Sutch | Charges under the Official Secrets Act
In June 2002, journalist Iftikhar Gilani was, arrested for violating the OSA 1923 . He was charged under the OSA, with a case under the Obscenity Act added to it. The first military report suggested that the information he was accused of holding was "secret" despite being publicly available. The second military intelligence report contradicted this, stating that there was no "official secret". Even after this, the government denied the opinion of the military and was on the verge of challenging it when the contradictions were exposed in the press. The military reported that, "the information contained in the document is easily available" and "the documents carries no security classified information and the information seems to have been gathered from open sources".
Official Secrets Act (India) | Iftikhar Gilani case
Section 1(1) creates an offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to security or intelligence. It can be committed by any person who is or has been a member of the security and intelligence services, or who is or has been a person notified that he is subject to the provisions of section 1(1). Cases under this section:
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 1 - Security and intelligence
Lamberth also specifically ordered that a sentence be removed from his March 30, 2010 Memorandum. The removed sentence had stated that "allegations of wrongdoing by the government attorneys in this case are not only credible, they are admitted".
State secrets privilege | Richard Horn
This section relates to further disclosure of information, documents or other articles protected from disclosure by the preceding sections of the Act. It allows, for example, the prosecution of newspapers or journalists who publish secret information leaked to them by a crown servant in contravention of section 3. This section applies to everyone.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 5 - Information resulting from unauthorised disclosures or entrusted in confidence
An amendment specified that they have staggered terms of five years. While the bill was being debated, the news broke on February 16, 1946, of the defection of Igor Gouzenko in Canada, and the subsequent arrest of 22 people. The members of Congress debating the bill feared that "atomic secrets" were being systematically stolen by Soviet atomic spies. McMahon convened an executive session at which Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover, Secretary of State James F. Byrnes and Groves were called to appear. Groves revealed that the British physicist Alan Nunn May had passed information about the Manhattan Project to Soviet agents.
Atomic Energy Act of 1946 | McMahon Bill
The Official Secrets Act 1972, in its current form (1 January 2006), consists of 31 sections and 1 schedule (including 9 amendments), without separate Part.
Official Secrets Act 1972 | Structure
He pleaded guilty to charges of espionage in February 1989 and was sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Stephen Joseph Ratkai | Introduction
In 1961, Blake fell under suspicion after revelations by Polish defector Michael Goleniewski and others. He was arrested when he arrived in London after being summoned from Lebanon, where he had been enrolled at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS). Three days into his interrogation, Blake denied he was tortured or blackmailed by the North Koreans. Without thinking what he was saying, he stated that he had switched sides voluntarily. He then gave his MI6 interrogators a full confession. The maximum sentence for any one offence under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 is 14 years, but his activities were divided into five time periods charged as five offences and, in May 1961 after an "in camera" trial at the Old Bailey, he was sentenced to the maximum term of 14 years consecutively on each of three counts of spying for a potential enemy and 14 years concurrently on both the two remaining counts – a total of 42 years imprisonment – by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Parker of Waddington.
George Blake | Discovery and conviction
The scandal became known when Trooper David L. Harding was interviewed for a job at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was asked if he was willing to break the law for his country. He answered "yes", then explained how he worked to convict people he felt sure were guilty by fabricating evidence. He assumed the CIA would be pleased with his answer, but instead they notified the United States Department of Justice. There was a 14-month delay between the discovery of the misconduct and any action taken.
New York State Police Troop C scandal | CIA interview
Section 16(1) authorises the citation of this Act by a short title. Section 16(2) authorises the citation of this Act and the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1939 by a collective title. Section 16(5) provides that the repeals of parts of the Official Secrets Act 1911 and the Official Secrets Act 1920 in Schedule 2 do not extend to any of the territories mentioned in section 15(3), subject to any Order made under section 15(3). The said territories mentioned in section 15(3) are the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and all colonies. Such an Order was made in relation to Hong Kong (see above).
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 16 - Citation, commencement, amendments, repeals and revocation
Refused exemption in that category, he was forcibly enlisted, and sentenced to two years imprisonment for disobeying an order; he then accepted the Home Office Scheme, and was transferred to Princetown Work Centre in the erstwhile Dartmoor Prison.
Fred Longden | Introduction
From 1984 to 2003, any telecommunications station or office belonging to, or occupied by, a public telecommunications operator was a prohibited place for the purposes of this Act.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | History
This section makes it a crime for a crown servant or government contractor to retain information beyond their official need for it, and obligates them to properly protect secret information from accidental disclosure.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 8 - Safeguarding of information
Arthur, finally shut down the Star Route ring. The conspirators, however, who were indicted and prosecuted, escaped conviction in both their first and second trials.
Grant administration scandals | Star route postal ring
The act has been criticised for ostensibly stifling dissent and reducing transparency in government workings. One statesman has suggested that the act has turned the press into "an alternative Government Gazette". In addition, the usage of the act to classify documents which "cannot by any stretch of the imagination be reasonably confidential or secret" has been criticised.
Official Secrets Act 1972 | Criticism
Section 3(1)(a) creates an offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to international relations. This includes confidential information, documents or other article from a State other than the United Kingdom or an international organisation. This section applies only to crown servants and government contractors.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 3 - International relations
Nearly five years after the Justice Department had concluded Kiriakou committed no crime by giving his 2007 ABC interview, the CIA approached the new Obama Justice Department, already engaged in its own unprecedented crackdown on government leaks, and asked them to reopen the case. On January 23, 2012, Kiriakou was charged with disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee, Deuce Martinez, in classified activities. In addition, Kiriakou was alleged to have lied to the CIA to have his book published. His lawyer was Robert Trout.
John Kiriakou | Trial, sentence, and imprisonment
Thirty-six hours after the story broke, the minister resigned. A subsequent government investigation into the affair discovered that Dunne had also given 1.3 million pounds to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey over the years.
Sam Smyth | Career
Franklin was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, but the sentence was later reduced to 10 months of home confinement.
Espionage Act of 1917 | 21st century
The offences under sections 1(3), 2(1), 3(1) and 4(1) can be committed only by persons who are or have been, and the offence under section 8(1) can be committed only by persons who are, Crown servants or government contractors. The offences under the Act, that can be committed only by persons who, as the case may be, are or have been Crown servants, government contractors, or members of the security and intelligence services, can be committed only where the information, document or other article in question is or has been in the possession of the person in question by virtue of their position as such.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Capacity
Section 6 creates an offence of making a "damaging disclosure" which "relates to security or intelligence, defence or international relations" where that information was provided in confidence "by or on behalf of the United Kingdom to another State or to an international organisation" where that person obtained it without that State or organization's authorization, and where no other offence under the earlier sections of this Act applies. Lawful authority and prior authorized disclosure are defences against this offence.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 6 - Information entrusted in confidence to other States or to international organisations
However, when President Ronald Reagan took office, the Justice Department sought to stop publication of the book and demanded return of the documents, claiming they had been "reclassified" as top secret. When Bamford refused, he was threatened with prosecution under the Espionage Act. In response, Bamford cited the presidential executive order on secrecy, which stated that once a document had been declassified it "cannot" be reclassified. As a result, President Reagan changed the executive order to indicate that once a document has been declassified it "can" be reclassified. However, due to "ex post facto" restrictions in the "US Constitution", the new executive order could not be applied to Bamford and the information was subsequently published in "The Puzzle Palace."
James Bamford | The Puzzle Palace and the Threat of Prosecution
On 17 November he was elected to parliament in place of his predecessor as Recorder, Sir Roger Cholmley. On 19 November he was granted Freedom of the City of London, a status tied to his membership of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, the first in order of precedence of London's Livery Companies. Holding these public offices did not prevent Broke pursuing private practice, and his signature is found on bills in chancery in the 1530s and 1540s. During this time he was also deputy chief steward for the Duchy of Lancaster, and was created a Serjeant-at-law in 1552.
Robert Broke | Offices held
In June 2008 Albaugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy with Kevin Ring. As part of his plea agreement Albaugh wore a wire during a conversation with former Congressman Istook, testified for three days during trial, and provided other assistance to the government. However, Albaugh's plea agreement fell apart when he informed the government that his actions were motivated by campaign contributions provided by Kevin Ring to Congressman Istook, and not by tickets to sporting events or meals provided by Ring to Albaugh. As a result of breaking his plea agreement the government requested Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to sentence Albaugh to 27 months in prison.
John Albaugh | Plea agreement
Sections 1(3), 2(1), 3(1), 5(3)(a) and 6(2) provide that the disclosures to which they apply are not an offence unless they are "damaging". Section 4(2) is similar.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Requirement that the disclosure be "damaging"
Section 2(1) creates an offence of disclosing information, documents or other articles relating to defence. This section applies only to Crown servants and government contractors.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 2 - Defence
The words omitted were repealed for England and Wales by section 1(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (c. 58), for Northern Ireland by section 1(2) of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1953, and for Scotland 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 Interpretation Act 1978 is that the reference to the Summary Jurisdiction Acts must be construed as a reference to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980
Official Secrets Act 1920 | Section 8(2)
This section now provides: The words "named therein" in square brackets in section 9(1) were repealed for England and Wales by section 119(2) of, and Part I of Schedule 7 to, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Section 9(1) is extended by section 11(3) of the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Official Secrets Act 1911 | Section 9 - Search warrants
Two was jailed for violating the Official Secrets Act and, while in prison, wrote a tell-all book about the Village which Thomas personally altered to redact classified information. With Two's twenty-year sentence ending, Thomas fears that he will return to the Village and will do something that will expose British covert operations. Meanwhile, Alice runs into a storm and finds herself shipwrecked on the island where the Village is located. Seeking help, Alice explores the Village and enters Two's house, where she finds a giant domed room. In the oval-shaped center chair sits a bearded man who tells her where she is and that "she" is Number Six.
Shattered Visage | Plot synopsis
Wolkoff and Kent were arrested on 20 May 1940 and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. As she was put into the police car, her arrest was witnessed by 11-year-old Len Deighton. She was tried "in camera" at the Old Bailey, with Sir William Jowitt as prosecutor. On 7 November 1940, Wolkoff was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for "attempting to assist the enemy", and Kent, an American citizen, was sentenced to 7 years. After her conviction, the Certificates of Naturalisation (Revocation) Committee was contacted, and her citizenship was revoked on 13 August 1943.
Anna Wolkoff | Arrest and trial
He ran for president again in 1920 from prison. President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence in December 1921 when he had served nearly five years. In "United States v. Motion Picture Film" (1917), a federal court upheld the government's seizure of a film called "The Spirit of '76" on the grounds that its depiction of cruelty on the part of British soldiers during the American Revolution would undermine support for America's wartime ally. The producer, Robert Goldstein, a Jew of German origins, was prosecuted under Title XI of the Act, and received a ten-year sentence plus a fine of $5000.
Espionage Act of 1917 | World War I
They were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, although this was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment by President Harry Truman. Gimpel was paroled in 1955; Colepaugh was paroled in 1960.
William Colepaugh | Secret agent
James' charges were read in the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was charged under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. Action was taken very quickly, so that the then Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, had not approved the prosecution before James was told of the charge. The full charge read on court on 2 November 2006 was that he was charged for a "purpose prejudicial to the safety of the State and that he "communicated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy." He was tried before Senior District Judge Timothy Workman. In November 2008 he was found guilty by a jury of spying for Iran on a charge of 'communicating information useful to an enemy', and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
Daniel James (British Army soldier) | Arrest and Appearance
In January 2007, Keyser was sentenced for the original charges of possessing secret documents and lying to investigators — he served one year and one day in jail, and was fined $25,000.
Donald Keyser | Introduction
In November 2005 Civil servant David Keogh was charged with offences under section 3, and parliamentary researcher Leo O'Connor under section 5, of the Official Secrets Act 1989 in the United Kingdom. Both men were of Northampton, England. They appeared on 29 November 2005 in the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London. They were remanded on bail, to return to the court on 10 January for a committal hearing. The charges against the pair relate to the alleged leak of a document containing what purports to be a discussion between Tony Blair and George W. Bush at one point. It is alleged this document shows that Blair had to dissuade Bush from bombing Al Jazeera in Qatar.
O'Connor–Keogh official secrets trial | Introduction
The British government attempted in 1974 to prevent Evans from publishing extracts from the diaries of former Labour cabinet minister Richard Crossman, shortly after Crossman had died and ahead of the diaries publication in book form. Evans risked prosecution under the Official Secrets Act 1911 for breaking the thirty-year rule preventing disclosures of government business. Lord Chief Justice Widgery ruled that publication would not be against the public interest.
Harold Evans | Reporting
Section 15(1)(a) provides that any act done by a British citizens or Crown servant, which would be an offence under any provision of the Act other than sections 8(1) or 8(4) or 8(5) if done by him in the United Kingdom, is an offence under that provision. This is intended to cover espionage (where someone travels to a foreign country and discloses secret information to a foreign power) and cases where someone travels to a foreign country and discloses secret information, perhaps to a newspaper. Section 15(1)(b) provides that any act done by any person in any of the Channel Islands, or in the Isle of Man, or in any colony, which would be an offence under any provision of the Act other than sections 8(1) or 8(4) or 8(5) if done by him in the United Kingdom, is an offence under that provision.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 15 - Acts done abroad and extent
This forced him to resign the recordership, and thus his Commons seat.
Robert Broke | Parliaments of Mary I
Intelligence came from the postmaster at Brussels that a packet of letters had been opened from the secretary's office and addressed to French minister Michel Chamillart, and they contained copies of important state papers; a covering note indicated that the copies were sent by Gregg. Gregg was arrested on 1 Jan. 1708, was examined by Sunderland on 3 January, and forthwith committed to Newgate. He was tried at the Old Bailey on 9 January for treasonable correspondence with France, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to death. The culprit pleaded in extenuation of his crime his poverty and heavy debts, but swore positively that he had no accomplice in his crime.
William Gregg (clerk and spy) | Life
Given the number of interviews, and the consequent expulsions, the undergraduate population must have become aware of the court's work in a matter of days. Yet the court's work escaped public attention. At least twice the court was told that Ernest Weeks was threatening to make public his opposition to the court and its methods, but nothing came of that. The court itself in its communications with the students' parents and guardians gave assurances that "every effort has been made to prevent any knowledge of this affair from becoming public." Yet a few students must have spoken with a reporter.
Secret Court of 1920 | Public awareness
The error was fixed and Warren's site was put back up with the secrets from September 9. On October 11, 2009, Warren took a break, posting a video and apology saying that he was busy touring, and urging readers to buy the book "PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God".
PostSecret | Breaks from weekly Secrets
As a result of Beaverbrook's intervention, Kendall's letters were intercepted, as were those of his wife, Virginia. She despaired of his lavish lifestyle; and in one letter to a US friend, wrote: "...[he] has completely lost his head... has one woman friend after another... spends thousands on silver and diamonds... some day the British people will want to know what is happening". The Security Service MI5, continued to watch his activities, and expressed concerns that he was carelessly revealing wartime production figures in his election hustings speeches in a way that breached the Official Secrets and the Defence of the Realm Acts.
Denis Kendall | National Archive files
He broke from the party by voting against the constitutional amendments which preceded the 1987 elections, which he did not contest.
Josie Muscat | Introduction
At Chung's sentencing, presiding judge, Cormac Carney, said that he could not "put a price tag" on national security, and that with the long sentence for Chung he wanted to send a signal to China to "stop sending your spies here."
Economic Espionage Act of 1996 | § 1831 - First conviction and sentence
As the vacancies for the office were not filled after 7 days, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed at 5pm on 16 January 2017. Responsibility and power for Northern Ireland transferred to James Brokenshire in his capacity as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 16 January 2017. Brokenshire made an announcement after the 7 day deadline passed and officially called a snap election for 2 March 2017. The Northern Ireland Assembly was dissolved on 26 January 2017.
Renewable Heat Incentive scandal | Collapse of Stormont
Within a few days, the elderly craftsman who works for Broke is killed by an apparent hit-and-run driver late one evening—and Broke himself is arrested, put into jail and accused of killing the man.The rest of the book dwells on attempts by a devoted band of British expatriates to free him and their experience with the Italian legal and political system that weaves its mesh around Broke, and vicious counter-moves by Mafia gangsters who hope to ensure that Broke's arrest will lead to his conviction so that the shadowy deeds taking place on Professor Bronzini's estate are left in peace.
The Family Tomb (Gilbert novel) | Plot
In 1937, his wife ran afoul of the secret police during the Great Terror. Apparently, she was arrested as a relative of an enemy of the people: she served 18 years in Gulag labor camps, while their son grew up in a special home. The arrest of his wife turned Zack into an opponent of Joseph Stalin and the USSR.
Joseph Zack Kornfeder | Break
This section defines the words and expressions "disclose", "disclosure", "international organisation", "prescribed" and "State" for the purposes of the Act.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 13 - Other interpretation provisions
This section provides the penalties and mode of trial for offences under the Act. Section 10(2) provides that a person guilty of an offence under section 8(1) or 8(4) or 8(5) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. Section 10(1) provides that a person guilty of any other offence under the Act is liable, on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both, or, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.
Official Secrets Act 1989 | Section 10 - Penalties
Reid was appointed Home Secretary on 5 May 2006, replacing Charles Clarke after the latter was removed in the wake of a Home Office scandal involving the release of foreign national prisoners. On 2 July 2006, Reid proposed a Bill for the autumn Queens Speech, to be brought into law at the next session of Parliament. He proposed a new Official Secrets Act, the first since the 1989 OSA, to punish intelligence officers with longer prison sentences, who blow the whistle on government policy by leaking secret information. To remove their key legal defence of necessity and/or defence of public interest.
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan | Home Secretary
Consequently, a voter conspiring to prove their vote (for money, coercion, or posterity) could mark all the ballots in a previously agreed unusual pattern that could later prove to a third party if the agreement was kept (even without seeing the receipt). In either case the veil of the secret ballot is pierced and traceable to the ID number on the receipt.
ThreeBallot | Broken Encryption
The phrase "official secrets act" may also be used to refer to statutes of a similar nature in other countries. Canada's "Official Secrets Act" was replaced in 2001 by similar legislation titled the "Security of Information Act" (which was created in the wake of September 11th 2001 to replace the vaguely worded Official Secrets Act). The United States does not have a broad-reaching Official Secrets Act, although the Espionage Act of 1917 has similar components. Much of the Espionage Act remains in force, although some has been struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional because of the First Amendment (See "United States v.
Official Secrets Act | Official Secrets Acts in other countries
In February 1977, Aubrey and freelance journalist Duncan Campbell were arrested as the left the flat where they had been interviewing John Berry, a former member of Signals Intelligence, which is based at GCHQ. They were charged with unlawful disclosure and receipt of classified information, contrary to section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, and charges were later added under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act. During a period of a year while they were awaiting trial, all three suffered intimidation and harassment, including house searches, were followed by plain clothes officers, and were required to report to the police each day.
Crispin Aubrey | ABC trial
Section 12(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 defines the expression "Crown servant" for the purposes of that Act. It now provides: Paragraph (aa) was inserted on 6 May 1999 by section 125 of, and paragraph 26(2) of the Schedule to, the Scotland Act 1998. Paragraph (ab) was inserted by paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to the Government of Wales Act 2006. This provision came into force immediately after the 2007 election by virtue of section 161(1) of that Act (subject to section 161(4) and (5), which provide that so far as it relates to functions of the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister, the Counsel General or the Assembly Commission, it came into force immediately after the end of "the initial period").
Crown servant | Official Secrets Act 1989