Official Secrecy and British Libertarianism

Abstract

The United Kingdom has had laws providing for Official Secrecy for ninety years. The two main Acts now in force were both passed in the first quarter of this century, and their essential provisions have been reflected in legal statutes of similar names adopted into the penal codes of most present or former commonwealth countries -notoriously including South Africa and Rhodesia. In contrast to the United States libertarian tradition flowing from its plural democracy and federalist government, British official secrecy legislation has provided much of the Anglo-Saxon world with a legacy of fundamental state secrecy, supported by the potential criminalisation of persons inside or outside the civil service who indulge in disclosure.