40Prohibition on use, communication or publication of protected information

40 Prohibition on use, communication or publication of protected information

40 Prohibition on use, communication or publication of protected information

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—

(a) the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly uses, communicates or publishes any protected information, and

(b) the person knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the information is protected information, and

(c) the person knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the use, communication or publication of the information is prohibited by this section.

Maximum penalty—Imprisonment for 2 years.

Note.

Under section 16 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, a court may impose a fine on a body corporate that commits this offence or an offence under subsection (2).

(2) A person is guilty of an offence against this subsection if the person commits an offence against subsection (1) in circumstances in which the person—

(a) intends to endanger the health or safety of any person or prejudice the effective conduct of an investigation into a relevant offence, or

(b) knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the disclosure of the information—

(i) endangers or will endanger the health or safety of any person, or

(ii) prejudices or will prejudice the effective conduct of an investigation into a relevant offence.

If the offence against subsection (1) involves information obtained from the use, in accordance with section 50A, of body-worn video by a police officer, each reference in this subsection to a relevant offence includes a reference to any offence.

Maximum penalty—Imprisonment for 7 years.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to—

(a) the use, communication or publication of—

(i) any information that has been disclosed in proceedings in open court, or

(ii) any information that has entered the public domain, or

(b) the use or communication of protected information by a person who believes on reasonable grounds that the use or communication is necessary to help prevent or reduce the threat of serious violence to a person or substantial damage to property, or