Part 2U.K.Courts and Justice

Administration of justiceU.K.

28Disclosure of information for calculating fees of courts, tribunals etcU.K.

(1)The Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland Department, or a person providing services to the Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland Department, may disclose social security information to a relevant person who wants social security information in connection with deciding a fee-remission application.

(2)Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or a person providing services to the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, may disclose tax credit information or finances information to a relevant person who wants tax credit information or finances information in connection with deciding a fee-remission application.

(3)Information disclosed to a relevant person under subsection (1) or (2)—

(a)must not be further disclosed, except to another relevant person who wants social security information, tax credit information or finances information in connection with deciding a fee-remission application, and

(b)must not be used otherwise than in connection with deciding a fee-remission application.

(4)Subsection (3) does not prohibit—

(a)disclosure or use of information which is in the form of a summary or collection of information so framed as not to enable information relating to any particular person to be ascertained from it;

(b)disclosure or use of information which has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority;

(c)disclosure or use of information so far as necessary to comply with—

(i)an order of a court,

(ii)an order of a tribunal established by or under an Act, or

(iii)a duty imposed by or under an Act or Northern Ireland legislation.

(5)It is an offence for a person to disclose or use information in contravention of subsection (3).

(6)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (5) to prove that the person reasonably believed that the disclosure or use concerned was lawful.

(7)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) is liable—

(a)on conviction on indictment—

(i)to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or

(ii)to a fine, or

(iii)to both;

(b)on summary conviction—

(i)to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months, or

(ii)to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or

(iii)to both.

[F1(7A)In the application of this section in England and Wales, the reference in subsection (7)(b)(i) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to the general limit in a magistrates’ court (or to 6 months in relation to an offence committed before 2 May 2022).]

(8)Subsection (7)(b) applies—

F2(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)in Northern Ireland,

as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.

(9)A prosecution for an offence under subsection (5)—

(a)may be instituted in England and Wales only by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and

(b)may be instituted in Northern Ireland only by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(10)In this section—

• “fee-remission application” means an application for any relief available to recipients of a social security benefit, or tax credit, from fees under any of—

  (a)

  section 92 of the Courts Act 2003 (court fees),

  (b)

  section 52 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (Supreme Court fees),

  (c)

  section 54 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Court of Protection fees),

  (d)

  section 58 of that Act (Public Guardian fees),

  (e)

  section 42 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (tribunal fees),

  (f)

  paragraph 9 of Schedule 12 to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (leasehold valuation tribunal fees),

  (g)

  paragraph 11 of Schedule 13 to the Housing Act 2004 (residential property tribunal fees), and

  (h)

  section 7 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (Gender Recognition Panel fees);

• “finances information” means information which—

  (a)

  is about a person's income, gains or capital, and

  (b)

  is held—

  (i)

  by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or

  (ii)

  by a person providing services to the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, in connection with the provision of those services;

• “relevant person” means—

  (a)

  the Lord Chancellor,

  (b)

  the Secretary of State,

  (c)

  a person providing services to the Lord Chancellor or to the Secretary of State,

  (d)

  any of the officers or staff of the Supreme Court, or

  (e)

  any of the officers or staff of, or a person providing services to, the Public Guardian appointed for the purposes of the Mental Capacity Act 2005;

• “social security information” means information which is held for the purposes of functions relating to social security—

  (a)

  by the Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland Department, or

  (b)

  by a person providing services to the Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland Department, in connection with the provision of those services,

  or information which is held with information so held;

• “tax credit information” means information as to whether a person has been awarded child tax credit or working tax credit which is held—

  (a)

  by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or

  (b)

  by a person providing services to the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, in connection with the provision of those services.