29.—(1) Notwithstanding any prohibition or restriction imposed by or under any statutory provision or rule of law, information of any description may be disclosed—
(a)by the Department to a district council; or
(b)by a district council to the Department or another district council,
for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by the Department of any of its functions under this Order or by any district council of any of its functions under this Order, and no person shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability in consequence of any disclosure made by virtue of this paragraph.
(2) Nothing in this Article shall authorise the disclosure to a district council of information disclosure of which would, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, be contrary to the interests of national security.
(3) No information disclosed to any person under this Article shall be disclosed by that person to any other person otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Article, or any other statutory provision which authorises or requires the disclosure, if that information is information—
(a)which relates to a trade secret of any person or which otherwise is or might be commercially confidential in relation to any person; or
(b)whose disclosure otherwise than under this Article would, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, be contrary to the interests of national security.
(4) Any authorisation by or under this Article of the disclosure of information by or to any person shall also be taken to authorise the disclosure of that information by or, as the case may be, to any officer of his who is authorised by him to make the disclosure or, as the case may be, to receive the information.
(5) Information is for the purposes of this Article commercially confidential in relation to any person if its disclosure would prejudice to an unreasonable degree the commercial interests of that person.
30.—(1) Regulations may provide that the provisions of this Order shall have effect with such modifications as may be prescribed in the regulations for the purpose of enabling Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom—
(a)to give effect to any Community obligation or exercise any related right; or
(b)to give effect to any obligation or exercise any related right under any international agreement to which the United Kingdom is for the time being a party.
(2) In this Article—
“modifications” includes additions, alterations and omissions;
“regulations”
in relation to any Community obligation, means regulations made by the Department; and
in relation to any international agreement, means regulations made by the Secretary of State; and
“related right”, in relation to an obligation, includes any derogation or other right to make more onerous provisions available in respect of that obligation.
(3) Regulations under this Article made by the Secretary of State shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament in the like manner as a statutory instrument and section 5 of the [1946 c. 36.] Statutory Instruments Act 1946 shall apply accordingly.
31.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, the provisions of this Order and of regulations and orders made under it shall bind the Crown.
(2) No contravention by the Crown of any provision of this Order or of any regulations or order made under it shall make the Crown criminally liable; but the High Court may, on the application of the enforcing authority charged with enforcing that provision, declare unlawful any act or omission of the Crown which constitutes such a contravention.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (2), the provisions of this Order and of regulations and orders made under it shall apply to persons in the public service of the Crown as they apply to other persons.
(4) If the Secretary of State certifies that it appears to him, as respects any Crown premises and any powers of entry exercisable in relation to them specified in the certificate, that it is requisite or expedient that, in the interests of national security, the powers should not be exercisable in relation to the premises, those powers shall not be exercisable in relation to those premises; and in this paragraph “Crown premises” means premises held or used by or on behalf of the Crown.
32. For the purposes of this Order section 20(2) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.).] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 applies with the omission of the words “the liability of whose members is limited” and where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, applies in relation to the acts or defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
33. Where the commission by any person of an offence under this Order is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this Article whether or not proceedings for the offence are taken against the first mentioned person.
34.—(1) An order or regulations made by the Department under this Order (other than an order under Article 1(2)) shall be subject to negative resolution.
(2) Any power conferred by this Order to give a direction shall include power to vary or revoke the direction.
(3) Any direction given under this Order shall be in writing.
(4) Paragraphs (5) and (6) apply to any direction given to any body or person under any provision of this Order being a direction to any extent so given for the purpose of implementing any obligations of the United Kingdom under the Community Treaties.
(5) A direction to which this paragraph applies shall not be varied or revoked unless, notwithstanding the variation or revocation, the obligations mentioned in paragraph (4), as they have effect for the time being, continue to be implemented, whether by directions or any other instrument or by any statutory provision.
(6) Any variation or revocation of a direction to which this paragraph applies shall be published in such manner as the Department considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the matters to which it relates to the attention of persons likely to be affected by them; and—
(a)copies of the variation or revocation shall be made available to the public; and
(b)notice of the variation or revocation, and of where a copy of the variation or revocation may be obtained, shall be given in the Belfast Gazette.
Art. 35—Amendments and repeals