Recommendation 39

We are concerned that the Official Secrets Act 1989 may be incompatible with Convention rights, including the freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial. We consider that the Government should take action to address these concerns as soon as possible. There seems to be a certain level of consensus that a whistleblowing or public interest defence is needed—and that such a defence should not catch data dumps but should be available for genuine cases of whistleblowing. The Government should set out its timetable for addressing these concerns given the potential of this legislation to negatively impact on free speech.