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9.
With these considerations in mind, it is very
unlikely that the Attorney General would wish to bring a
prosecution under section 2 of the Official Secrets Act
1911. Indeed, the Attorney General has recently declined
prosecuting a number of cases under section 2 of the 1911
Act, having felt inhibited from consenting to prosecute for
the reasons given above. As a matter of legal policy, it
is higly undesirable to countenance the continuation in
force of a law which the Attorney General is so unlikely to
use.
10.
The present state of affairs is wholly
unacceptable, for it is widely accepted that, in order to
conduct the business of government effectively, some
categories of official information should be held or
communicated in confidence, and that the holders and
disseminators of such information should, ultimately, be
liable to criminal sanctions if they breach this
confidence. Knowledge that the section was defunct for
practical purposes might give, to those who might be
inclined to flout the confidentiality entrusted to them,
encouragement to offend.
11.
The provisions of the Official Secrets Act 1989,
suitably adapted and modified, would be an acceptable
replacement for section 2 of the 1911 Act because they are
drafted in modern language and in a clear style; the
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