Section 141 — Providing false information or documents: national security etc defence

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

This version in force from 2026-04-07

Snapshot: 2026-08-24

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .

(1) A person in relation to whom a certificate is issued by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section is not liable for the commission of an offence under section 140 (offence of providing false information or documents).

(2) The Secretary of State may issue a certificate in relation to a person for the purposes of this section only if satisfied that it is necessary for the person to engage in conduct amounting to such an offence—

(a) in the interests of national security,

(b) for the purposes of preventing or detecting serious crime, or

(3) A certificate under this section may be revoked by the Secretary of State at any time.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b)—

(a) “crime” means conduct which—

(i) constitutes a criminal offence, or

(ii) is, or corresponds to, any conduct which, if it all took place in any one part of the United Kingdom, would constitute a criminal offence, and

(b) crime is “serious” if—

(i) the offence which is or would be constituted by the conduct is an offence for which the maximum sentence (in any part of the United Kingdom) is imprisonment for three years or more, or

(ii) the conduct involves the use of violence, results in substantial financial gain or is conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose.