ABSTRACT
The consent of the Attorney-General1 is required to bring a prosecution under the Official Secrets Acts 1911-1989. This statutory requirement is provided by section 8 of the 1911 Official Secrets Act.2 The Attorney-General’s consent is not restricted to serious crimes of alleged espionage and related offences, but applies to all crimes covered by the Acts, including the lesser crimes of unauthorized disclosure of official information under section 2 of the 1911 Act where the accused may have had no intention of damaging the State (reformed by the Official Secrets Act 1989). However, this book concentrates on espionage and related offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, as amended. Therefore, in the second part of this chapter, the examples of controversy surrounding the exercise by the Attorney-General of his power to institute proceedings in Official Secrets cases, will focus on serious cases under section 1. First, the role and powers of the Attorney-General and other Law Officers of the Crown will be discussed in general.
