The crime of disclosing official secrets

Abstract

National Security Law is scattered in many different acts and provisions. Specifically, the crime of disclosing official secrets is found in three different provisions: Article 133 of the Criminal Code, Article 9(1) of the Official Secrets Act and Article 257 of the Criminal Code. All these provisions regulate one and the same human conduct: they provide against the disclosure of any document, fact or information, by a public officer or public servant, which information, document or information was acquired by reason of their office. Due to the lack of definitions provided for both by the legislator, or the judiciary, this paper provides a definition for Article 133 of the Criminal Code with particular reference to the terms ‘document’,’fact’ and ‘secret’. Then it traces similarities with Article 9(1) of the Official Secrets Act, and with Article 257 of the Criminal Code. Differences are also noted in order to determine whether there was really an exigency for the promulgation of these articles. Finally, the author notes that Article 9(1) of the Official Secrets Act should be repealed, in order to remove any over-laps with Article 133 of the Criminal Code. Article 257 of the Criminal Code, on the other hand, should be amended in order to raise the distinction between the public and private sector. In doing so, over-laps between different provisions would be removed.