The Police Act 1997 (Provisions in relation to the NCIS Service Authority) Order 1998

Admission to meetings of the Authority

C1.—(1) A meeting of the Authority shall be open to the public except to the extent that they are excluded (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) under paragraph (2) below or by resolution under paragraph (4) below.

(2) The public shall be excluded from a meeting of the Authority during an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that, if members of the public were present during that item, confidential information would be disclosed to them in breach of the obligation of confidence; and nothing in this Part shall be taken to authorise or require the disclosure of confidential information in breach of the obligation of confidence.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) above, “confidential information” means—

(a) information furnished to the Authority by a Government department upon terms (however expressed) which forbid the disclosure of the information to the public; and

(b) information the disclosure of which to the public is prohibited by or under any enactment or by the order of a court;

and, in either case, the reference to the obligation of confidence is to be construed accordingly.

(4) The Authority may by resolution exclude the public from a meeting during an item of business whenever it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during that item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as defined in article C9 below.

(5) A resolution under paragraph (4) above shall—

(a) identify the proceedings, or the part of the proceedings, to which it applies, and

(b) state the description, in terms of Schedule 2 to this Order, of the exempt information giving rise to the exclusion of the public,

and where such a resolution is passed this article does not require the meeting to be open to the public during proceedings to which the resolution applies.

(6) The following provisions shall apply in relation to a meeting of the Authority, that is to say—

(a) public notice of the time and place of the meeting shall be given by posting it at the offices of the Authority (and, if the meeting is to be held at premises other than those offices, at those premises) seven clear days at least before the meeting or, if the meeting is convened at shorter notice, then at the time it is convened;

(b) while the meeting is open to the public, the Authority shall not have the power to exclude members of the public from the meeting; and

(c) while the meeting is open to the public, duly accredited representatives of newspapers attending the meeting for the purpose of reporting the proceedings for those newspapers shall, so far as practicable, be afforded reasonable facilities for taking their report and, unless the meeting is held in premises not belonging to the Authority or not on the telephone, for telephoning the report at their own expense.

(7) Nothing in this article shall require the Authority to permit the taking of photographs of any proceedings, or the use of any means to enable persons not present to see or hear any proceedings (whether at the time or later), or the making of any oral report on any proceedings as they take place.

(8) This article is without prejudice to any power of exclusion to suppress or prevent disorderly conduct or other misbehaviour at a meeting.