{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-lottery-etc-act-1993/section-4C",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-lottery-etc-act-1993/section-4C.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1993/39",
  "legislation_title": "National Lottery etc. Act 1993",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-lottery-etc-act-1993",
  "path": "section/4C",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "4C",
  "heading": "Wrongful disclosure",
  "text": "(1) This section applies to a person—\n(a) who is or was an officer or employee of the Gambling Commission, or\n(b) who acts or acted on behalf of the Gambling Commission.\n(2) A person to whom this section applies commits an offence if he discloses information received from the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in contravention of section 4B(3) and the information relates to a person whose identity—\n(a) is specified in the disclosure, or\n(b) can be deduced from it.\n(3) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section of disclosing information to prove that he reasonably believed—\n(a) that the disclosure was lawful, or\n(b) that the information had already and lawfully been made available to the public.\n(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—\n(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both, or\n(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months the general limit in a magistrates’ court, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.\n(5) In relation to a conviction occurring before 2 May 2022 the reference in subsection (4)(b) to 12 months the general limit in a magistrates’ court shall have effect as if it were a reference to six months.\n(6) In the application of this section to Scotland or Northern Ireland the reference in subsection (4)(b) to 12 months shall be taken as a reference to six months.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ss. 4B, 4C inserted (1.10.2006) by National Lottery Act 2006 (c. 23), ss. 2, 22(1); S.I. 2006/2630, art. 2(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Word in s. 4C(1)(a) substituted (1.10.2013) by The Public Bodies (Merger of the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/2329), art. 1(2), Sch. para. 5 (with art. 8, Sch. para. 43)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Word in s. 4C(1)(b) substituted (1.10.2013) by The Public Bodies (Merger of the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/2329), art. 1(2), Sch. para. 5 (with art. 8, Sch. para. 43)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words in s. 4C(4)(b) substituted (E.W.) (7.2.2023 at 12.00 p.m.) by The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/149), regs. 1(2), 2(1), Sch. Pt. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words in s. 4C(5) substituted (28.4.2022) by The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 33) and Sentencing Act 2020 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/500), regs. 1(2), 5(1), Sch. Pt. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Words in s. 4C(5) substituted (E.W.) (7.2.2023 at 12.00 p.m.) by The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/149), regs. 1(2), 2(1), Sch. Pt. 1"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1993/39/section/4C",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:34:51.269626+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}