41. Confidentiality
(1) Except as provided by subsection (2), a public officer must not disclose or give to another person any information concerning a trade, business or manufacturing secret that has come to the knowledge of, or into the possession of, the public officer in the course of the public officer’s exercise of powers or performance of functions under this Ordinance.
(2) A public officer may disclose or give to another person information referred to in subsection (1)—
- (a) in the public officer’s exercise of powers or performance of functions under this Ordinance;
- (b) under an order of a court under subsection (3); or
- (c) with the consent in writing of all persons who appear to the public officer, after reasonable inquiry, to be interested in the confidentiality of the information.
(3) If in any proceedings a court considers that the justice of the case so requires, the court may order the disclosure of information referred to in subsection (1).
(4) A public officer who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
(5) It is a defence for a public officer charged with an offence under this section to show that at the time of the alleged offence the defendant—
- (a) believed that there was lawful authority for the defendant to disclose or give the information to the other person and the defendant had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise; or
- (b) did not know and had no reasonable cause to believe that the information disclosed or given was information referred to in subsection (1).
42. Protection of public officers
(1) A public officer is not personally liable for anything done or omitted to be done by the public officer in good faith in the exercise of a power or performance of a function or purported exercise of a power or purported performance of a function under this Ordinance.
(2) The protection conferred by subsection (1) does not affect any liability of the Government for the act or omission.
