Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

Exclusion from registers of information affecting national security

31.—(1) No information shall be included in a register maintained under Article 30 if and so long as, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the inclusion in such a register of that information, or information of that description, would be contrary to the interests of national security.

(2) The Secretary of State may, for the purpose of securing the exclusion from registers of information to which paragraph (1) applies, give to the Department directions—

(a) specifying information, or descriptions of information, to be excluded from its registers; or

(b) specifying descriptions of information to be referred to the Secretary of State for his determination;

and no information referred to the Secretary of State in pursuance of sub-paragraph (b) shall be included in any such register until the Secretary of State determines that it should be so included.

(3) The Department shall notify the Secretary of State of any information it excludes from a register in pursuance of directions given under paragraph (2).

(4) A person may, as respects any information which appears to him to be information to which paragraph (1) may apply, give a notice to the Secretary of State specifying the information and indicating its apparent nature; and, if he does so—

(a) he shall notify the Department that he has done so; and

(b) no information so notified to the Secretary of State shall be included in any such register until the Secretary of State has determined that it should be so included.

(5) Any direction given under paragraph (2) shall be in writing and may be varied or revoked by a subsequent direction.