Commentary on Sections Miscellaneous Section 23: Prohibition on disclosure of information held by the Labour Relations Agency
This section inserts Article 90B into the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992. The new Article prohibits the LRA, or persons appointed by the LRA, from releasing information relating to a worker, employer of a worker, or a trade union, that they hold in the course of performing their functions.
Paragraph (2) of Article 90B specifies the circumstances in which the prohibition does not apply, for example if the disclosure is made for the purposes of a criminal investigation, or in a way that means that no-one to whom the information relates can be identified. Paragraph (4) of the Article makes a breach of the prohibition a criminal offence, punishable by a fine. By virtue of paragraph (5), any such proceedings, brought against the person who has breached the prohibition in Northern Ireland, can only be instituted by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.