Under 18s and the Official Secrets Act
 

Before the Trident thread appeared here I was arguing the toss about it with others on another thread. Someone has suggested that 16-18 year olds in the Forces could not be held to the terms of the OSA because of their age. Is this true? If yes, do boy entrants 're-sign' the Act at 18? (And girls of course.)

Ta.

CG

I had a job at the tax office before I joined up and I had to sign it at 17 if that helps

I signed it at 16 I think as part of my joining up, I was attested at the CIO and did all of the paperwork before I left.

That's my understanding too. It reminds the person signing of their obligations, but not a lot else, since they are already under said obligation.

I signed it at 17 years and 5 months old if that helps, and it was in the CIO.

Thanks all- I had overlooked the logic that a law is a law whether 'signed' or not.

CG

I have signed several times, the last when I took a job with the CS. When I retired they sent a pack and a new form. I didn't bother to return it and they never chased me either.

During WWII Alan Turing joined Dad's Army. After a while he became bored and stopped attending. He was reminded that he had signed a form in which was the question "are you aware that you will be subject to military discipline?". Turing pointed out that he had written "no" as the answer. Not a lot you can say after that.

I did work experience at RAF Leeming when I was 15/16, I was asked to sign it then.

I signed it at 16 and again at 18. The main difference was the contract that existed between me and MoD. Under 18 it is with your parents/guardian and you sign the OSA in their presence. Over 18, you're on your own. Not sure if that has changed over the years. The rules are so vague this was probably one man's interpretation at the time.

An interesting piece of legislation that is very out of date and very difficult to implement. I've submitted quite a few written pieces to MoD in recent years asking permission to make public, each time expecting more redactions than approvals. The only time they said no was a reference I wanted to make to a short internal report - that I should seek it under FoI so they could redact first. When it was asked for, they denied its existence, which meant I could refer to it anyway. Bizarre.

Had to sign the OSA at age 16 to enable me to do a Christmas post round , delivering The Queen's Mail ; whilst still a school boy .

rgds condor .

Never had to sign it for the RN at 16 . Maybe it didnt exist in the fifties. Come to think of it we never had ID cards either.

slight thread drift, but surprised people are saying OSA will inhibit people from giving evidence to the child abuse enquiries. Surely (and I don't have the Act to hand and I am not a lawyer) there must be a caveat in the act for due legal process. (or maybe it is "convenient" to claim there isn't)

problem is that the OSA is seen as pretty draconian - and in the past it has been (mis-) used on all sorts of small misdemeanours

I'm sure you'll still get a jury to convict on a spying case or similar but in the age of facebook, Twitter and 24 hr rolling news the basic mindset of the Great British Public is generally in favour of disclosure

To my simple mind, the only people who might argue that are those that think the OSA is there to protect officials rather than secrets. And they would only think that if they had something to hide.

In 1960 I signed on my own behalf on induction to the RAF at Cardington, after swearing allegiance to HM. I was happy to sign anything that allowed me to play with aircraft.

The Official Secrets Act isn't as out-of-date as all that, the current version having been enacted in 1989. Internet or no internet, it still makes sense for criminal sanctions to be available for genuinely serious breaches. Although it is fairly unlikely that any under-18 would have access to the types of sensitive information protected by the Act, as others have said there is no special exemption for that agegroup.

Never asked to sign it despite being cleared to TS and CTS as well as being i/c things which generated EMC. Perhaps I just have an honest face!

I entered the RAF as a 15 year old Boy Entrant, I don't remember signing it until my demob interview, just before my 28th birthday!

Like you Ian, I joined as an Apprentice at the age of 15 and was overseas by the time I was 18. Don't recall having to sign an OSA until I retired.

Bob C