![]() ![]() In 2015, the Cabinet Office commissioned the Law Commission to undertake a review of the Official Secrets Acts ( OSAs) as part of a broader review of the Protection of Official Data and identified key areas for reform in the OSAs 1911, 19, including in relation to espionage by information gathering/disclosure – the Law Commission recommended that “a new statute, containing modern language and updated provisions, should replace the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 19”.Reforming the existing offence increases our ability to tackle the modern espionage threat, make the UK a harder operating environment for state threats actors and, in turn, better protect national security.An offence of assisting a foreign intelligence service will reduce the ability of such agencies to carry out a range of hostile activities against the UK, extending beyond espionage activity.Creating separate offences captures the harmful activity in a way that is designed for a modern world, without inadvertently criminalising a wider range of activity.The Bill repeals the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 19, which contain the existing provisions. Espionage is now addressed by 3 offences in the Bill: obtaining or disclosing protected information obtaining or disclosing trade secrets and assisting a foreign intelligence service.Technological developments have changed the nature of espionage and modernised the targets and vectors through which espionage can be conducted.The Official Secrets Act 1911 criminalises espionage by prohibiting certain conduct that is carried out with a purpose prejudicial to the safety of interests of the UK, including obtaining or disclosing information which would be ‘useful to an enemy’. ![]()
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