UK Offence Report

Unauthorised disclosure of information relating to particular persons

article 21(1) of The Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1989

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 A person who is or has been employed in social security administration or adjudication is guilty of an offence if he discloses without lawful authority any information which he acquired in the course of his employment and which relates to

a particular person.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach article 21(1)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person discloses without lawful authority any information which he acquired in the course of his employment and which relates to a particular person.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
6 months

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
2 August 1989
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order is made only for purposes corresponding to those of the Social Security Act 1989. Article 3 makes amendments relating to primary Class 1 contributions. Primary contributions will consist of an initial primary percentage of 2 per cent. of the current lower earnings limit and a main primary percentage of 9 per cent. of earnings that exceed the lower earnings limit up to the upper earnings limit. Article 4 enables provision to be made in regulations for the refund of contributions where earnings become repayable and Article 5 abolishes the Consolidated Fund supplement to contributions. Article 6 revises the provisions relating to earnings factors and enables the Department of Health and Social Services to assess the level of earnings where such information is not available. Article 7 extends a parent’s liability for income support purposes in certain circumstances to maintain his or her child up to the age of 19. Article 8 provides that women widowed before 11th April 1988 shall have their entitlement to widow’s benefit determined under the legislation in force before that date. Article 9 and Schedule 1 abolish the retirement pensions earnings rule together with the related retirement condition. Article 10 extends from 75 to 80 the upper age limit for entitlement to a mobility allowance. Article 11 provides for unemployment benefit to be abated on account of payments by way of personal pension and that earnings will include payments by way of personal pension in relation to the earnings rules for dependency increases paid with benefits under the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975. Article 12 makes it a requirement for entitlement to unemployment benefit that the person must be actively seeking work and Article 13 amends provisions relating to requalification for unemployment benefit. Article 14 amends the provisions under which an unemployed person must have good cause for refusing an opportunity of employment. Article 15 amends the conditions for entitlement to income support to provide that a person must be actively seeking work. Article 16 amends provisions relating to housing benefit to provide for rebates to be in the form of a payment or a reduction in a person’s liability for rent or rates, or by way of both. Article 17 amends certain conditions under which the Department of Health and Social Services will pay housing benefit grant to the housing Executive. Article 18 makes arrangements for the payment of the expenses of the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of the Environment in making transitional payments relating to income support and housing benefit. Article 19 enables the Department of Health and Social Services to make corresponding orders for Northern Ireland where orders are made in Great Britain to rectify mistakes in up-rating orders. Article 20 provides for the automatic up-rating of awards of income support. Article 21 and Schedule 2 make it an offence for a person employed in social security administration or adjudication to disclose without lawful authority certain information obtained in the course of his employment and Article 22 extends the power of the Inland Revenue to disclose for social security purposes information obtained or held by them. Article 23 and Schedule 3 contain amendments relating to matters of adjudication. Article 24 and Schedule 4 provide for the recovery by the Department of Health and Social Services from a compensation payment of an amount equivalent to the gross social security benefits received by a person in consequence of an accident, injury or disease for which compensation has been paid. Article 25 and Schedule 5 implement the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes and Article 26 and Schedule 6 contain amendments to occupational and personal pension provisions. Articles 27 to 31 contain general and supplementary provisions.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source