Commentary on Sections Part 1.Fines and Other Penalties: Enforcement Chapter 1: Collection of Fines Etc. Section 17: Disclosure of information
This Section provides a power for the Department for Social Development (“DSD”), or a person providing services to DSD, to disclose social security information (as defined in sub-section (2)) to a court or a collection officer for the purpose of facilitating a decision by a court or a collection officer whether or not to make an application for deduction from benefits in order to enforce payment of the outstanding amount of an unpaid financial penalty.
Sub-section (3) makes it an offence for a person to whom information is disclosed under this Section to unlawfully disclose the information to another person or use it for a purpose not specified in the Section.
Sub-section (6) specifies that the penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (£5,000) on summary conviction, or 2 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or both on conviction on indictment.