Commentary on Sections Schedule 14: Deployment of the judiciary Section 28: Disclosure of information for calculating fees of courts, tribunals etc
437.Section 28 makes provision for the disclosure of information about tax credits, social security information and information about a person’s income, gains or capital in order to determine a person’s eligibility for a remission from paying fees to courts, tribunals or the Public Guardian.
438.Subsection (1) provides that the Secretary of State (in practice, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), or a relevant Northern Ireland Department, or a person providing services to them, may disclose social security information to a relevant person in order for that person to determine whether an applicant is eligible for a fee remission.
439.Subsection (2) enables Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to disclose tax credit information or information about a person’s income, gains or capital to a relevant person in order for that person to determine whether an applicant is eligible for a fee remission.
440.Subsection (3) provides that information disclosed to a relevant person under subsection (1) or (2) may only be shared with another relevant person who wants the information to assess whether someone is eligible for a fee remission; such information cannot be used for any other purpose.
441.Subsection (4) explains the limited circumstances in which information received for the purpose of deciding whether someone is eligible for a fee remission under either subsection (1) or (2) may be further disclosed. Further disclosure is only permitted where that information has already been disclosed to the public with lawful authority, where it is disclosed in a form such that information about an individual cannot be identified from it or where disclosure is necessary to comply with a court order or statutory duty.
442.Subsection (5) provides that it is an offence to disclose or use this information other than for the purposes specified.
443.Subsection (6) provides that where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (5), it is a defence that they reasonably believed that the disclosure or use of the information was lawful.
444.Subsection (7) sets out the applicable penalties where a person is guilty of the offence under subsection (5). A conviction on indictment may attract a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, a fine or both. On summary conviction a person is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.
445.Subsection (8) provides that in relation to summary convictions for the offence at subsection (5), a prison sentence not exceeding 6 months applies to offences committed in England and Wales before the implementation of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (which provides that a magistrates court does not have the power to impose a sentence of more than 12 months for one offence) or for offences committed in Northern Ireland.
446.Subsection (9) provides that, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a person may only be prosecuted for an offence under this section by or with the consent of the relevant Director of Public Prosecutions.
447.Subsection (10) defines the terms used in this section. It sets out what is meant by a relevant person and includes a list of court, tribunal and other fee-charging provisions to which the disclosure regime applies.