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Dictionary definition: Official Secrets Acts
- Article from:
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
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Copyright© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information)
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Official Secrets Acts
The UK Official Secrets Act 1989 declared it unlawful to disclose information relating to defence, security and intelligence, international relations, intelligence gained from other departments or international organizations, intelligence useful to criminals, or the interception of communications. The Act replaced the all-embracing 1911 Official Secrets Act. The origins of reform lay in the failure of governments to successfully prosecute under the 1911 Act. 1985 Clive Ponting, a Ministry of Defence civil servant who had disclosed information on the Falklands War to an MP, was acquitted under section 2(1)(a) of the 1911 Act on the grounds that he had disclosed ...