NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY ACT 1984 No. 41, 1984 - SECT 51 Secrecy

NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY ACT 1984 No. 41, 1984 - SECT 51

51. (1) This section applies to-

   (a)  a member or acting member of the Authority; and

   (b)  a member of the staff of the Authority.

(2) A person to whom this section applies who, either directly or indirectly,
except for the purposes of this Act or otherwise in connection with the
performance of his duties under this Act, and either while he is or after he
ceases to be a person to whom this section applies-

   (a)  makes a record of any information; or

   (b)  divulges or communicates to any person any information, being
        information acquired by him by reason of, or in the course of, the
        performance of his duties under this Act, is guilty of an offence
        punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or
        imprisonment for a period not exceeding 1 year, or both.

(3) A person to whom this section applies shall not be required to produce in
any court any document that has come into his custody or control in the course
of, or by reason of, the performance of his duties under this Act, or to
divulge or communicate to a court a matter or thing that has come to his
notice in the performance of his duties under this Act, except where the
Authority, or a member or acting member in his official capacity, is a party
to the relevant proceeding or it is necessary to do so-

   (a)  for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act; or

   (b)  for the purposes of a prosecution instituted as a result of an
        investigation carried out by the Authority in the performance of its
        functions.

(4) In this section-

"court" includes any tribunal, authority or person having power to require the
production of documents or the answering of questions;

"produce" includes permit access to, and "production" has a corresponding
meaning.