Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Act 2010

20 Information and records for Convention purposes

(1) The Secretary of State may serve a notice on any person requiring the person to give such information as is described in the notice.

(2) The information required to be given by a notice served under subsection (1)—

(a) must be information that the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe is or will be needed in connection with anything to be done for the purposes of the Convention;

(b) may relate to a state of affairs subsisting before the coming into force of this Act or the entry into force of the Convention.

(3) A notice served under subsection (1) may specify—

(a) the form in which the information must be given;

(b) the period within which the information must be given.

(4) The Secretary of State may also serve a notice on any person requiring the person to keep such records as are specified in the notice.

(5) The records required to be kept by a notice served under subsection (4) must be records that the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe will facilitate the giving of information which that person may at any time be required to give under subsection (1).

(6) The power conferred by subsection (1) may not be exercised so as to require a person to give information which might incriminate the person or, if that person is married or a civil partner, the person’s spouse or civil partner.

(7) The power conferred by subsection (1) may not be exercised so as to require a person to give information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege (or, in Scotland, to confidentiality of communications) could be maintained in legal proceedings.

(8) A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a notice served under subsection (1) or (4) is guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(9) A person on whom a notice is served under subsection (1) and who knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in response to it is guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.