Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against public order - Treason and other crimes against the Sovereign and the State

78AA: Wrongful communication, retention, or copying of classified information

You could also call this:

“A law that punishes people who share, keep, or copy secret government information without permission”

If you have or have had special permission to see secret government information, or if someone has shared secret information with you officially, you need to be very careful with it. You could go to jail for up to 5 years if you do any of these things:

You tell someone else about the secret information when you know you shouldn’t, even if you’re not trying to cause trouble.

You keep or make copies of the secret information when you know you’re not allowed to.

You don’t give back the secret information when someone in charge tells you to.

Secret information means stuff that only people with special permission can see. This includes information from the New Zealand government and information from other countries that is kept secret.

The government has a system for deciding what information is secret. You can find out more about this system on the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service website.

If you’re not sure what “official information” means, you can look it up in section 78A(2) of this law.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7453603.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Government and voting > Government departments
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“Sharing secret information that could harm New Zealand's safety is against the law.”

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78A: Wrongful communication, retention, or copying of official information, or

“Sharing, keeping, or copying secret government information without permission can get you in big trouble.”

Part 5 Crimes against public order
Treason and other crimes against the Sovereign and the State

78AAWrongful communication, retention, or copying of classified information

  1. Every person specified in subsection (2) is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years if the person, within or outside New Zealand,—

  2. knowingly or recklessly, and with knowledge that he or she is acting without proper authority, communicates any classified information to any other person; or
    1. knowing that he or she is acting without proper authority, retains or copies any classified information; or
      1. knowingly fails to comply with any directions issued by a lawful authority for the return of any classified information that is in his or her possession or under his or her control.

        1. Subsection (1) applies to—

        2. a person who holds, or has held, a government-sponsored national security clearance to access classified information; or
          1. a person to whom classified information has been disclosed in confidence if—
            1. the disclosure is authorised; and
              1. the person knows that the disclosure is in respect of classified information.

              2. In this section,—

                classified information means—

                1. information that—
                  1. is, or was, official information; and
                    1. is classified under the New Zealand Government Security Classification System as being accessible only to persons who have a national security clearance:
                    2. foreign government information that is—
                      1. classified in a foreign country; and
                        1. accessible only to persons having a government-sponsored national security clearance

                        New Zealand Government Security Classification System means the security classification system applying to official information that is published (and from time to time amended) on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service

                          official information has the meaning given to it by section 78A(2).

                          Notes
                          • Section 78AA: inserted, on , by section 254 of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 (2017 No 10).