Authorised disclosures. 7.—(1) For the purposes of this Act a disclosure by—
- (a) a Crown servant; or
- (b) a person, not being a Crown servant or government contractor, in whose case a notification for the purposes of section 1(1) above is in force,
is made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made in accordance with his official duty.
(2) For the purposes of this Act a disclosure by a government contractor is made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—
- (a) in accordance with an official authorisation; or
- (b) for the purposes of the functions by virtue of which he is a government contractor and without contravening an official restriction.
(3) For the purposes of this Act a disclosure made by any other person is made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—
- (a) to a Crown servant for the purposes of his functions as such; or
- (b) in accordance with an official authorisation.
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under any of the foregoing provisions of this Act to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he believed that he had lawful authority to make the disclosure in question and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.
(5) In this section "official authorisation" and "official restriction" mean, subject to subsection (6) below, an authorisation or restriction duly given or imposed by a Crown servant or government contractor or by or on behalf of a prescribed body or a body of a prescribed class.
(6) In relation to section 6 above "official authorisation" includes an authorisation duly given by or on behalf of the State or organisation concerned or, in the case of an organisation, a member of it.
Safeguarding of information. 8.—(1) Where a Crown servant or government contractor, by virtue of his position as such, has in his possession or under his control any document or other article which it would be an offence under any of the foregoing provisions of this Act for him to disclose without lawful authority he is guilty of an offence if—
- (a) being a Crown servant, he retains the document or article contrary to his official duty; or
- (b) being a government contractor, he fails to comply with an official direction for the return or disposal of the document or article,
or if he fails to take such care to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of the document or article as a person in his position may reasonably be expected to take.
(2) It is a defence for a Crown servant charged with an offence under subsection (1)(a) above to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he believed that he was acting in accordance with his official duty and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.
