Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014
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Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure of confidential information | ||
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25. (1) A person shall not, unless authorised by the Commission or by a member of the staff of the Commission duly authorised in that behalf so to do, or required by law, disclose confidential information obtained by him or her in his or her capacity, or while performing duties as— | ||
(a) a member of the Commission, | ||
(b) a member of the staff of the Commission, | ||
(c) an authorised officer, or | ||
(d) a person engaged by the Commission in any other capacity. | ||
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to— | ||
(a) a communication made by a member of the Commission, a member of the staff of the Commission, or an authorised officer, in the performance of any of his or her functions under this Act, being a communication the making of which was necessary for the performance by the member, member of the staff of the Commission or authorised officer of any such function, or | ||
(b) the disclosure by a member of the Commission, a member of the staff of the Commission or an authorised officer to any person or body mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (q) of section 24 (1) of information which, in the opinion of the member, member of the staff of the Commission, or authorised officer, may relate to the commission of an offence (whether an offence under this Act or not). | ||
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both. | ||
(4) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the disclosure of information by means of a report made— | ||
(a) to the Commission, or | ||
(b) by or on behalf of the Commission to the Minister. | ||
(5) In this section “confidential information” includes— | ||
(a) information that is expressed by the Commission to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and | ||
(b) proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Commission by contractors, consultants or any other person. |