Clause 79 - Defences to liability under section 78
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Assistant Chief Whip, Whips; Cotswold, Conservative)
I wonder if the Minister's explanation is correct. I do not want to press for a debate on clause 80, but it is relevant to what we are talking about. Subsection (2) states:
''A person (D)''—
that is, a person associated with P—
''commits an offence if . . . D discloses information which relates to a person (P) who is or has been a protected person''.
I assume that ''has been'' could mean that they are deceased. D also commits an offence if
''P assumed a new identity in pursuance of arrangements made under section 74(a)''.
I wonder if clause 80 does in fact indicate that if someone dies and their close associate D discloses their identity, D could be committing an offence. Will the Minister comment?