Scottish Law Commission Report

 Scottish Law Commission                  
 Report on Computer Crime No. 174 of 1987 
 Computer Crime (Scotland) Bill 1987      

1.(1) A person commits an offence if, not having authority to obtain
     access to a program or data stored in a computer, or to a part of such
     program or data, he obtains unauthorised access in order to inspect or
     otherwise to acquire knowledge of the program or the data or to add to,
     erase or otherwise alter the program or the data with the intention -

        (a) of procuring an advantage for himself or another person; or
        (b) of damaging another person's interests.
    [Recommendations 5, 6 and 7]

(2) A person commits an offence if, not having authority to obtain access
    to a program or data stored in a computer, or to a part of such program or
    data, he obtains such unauthorised access and damages another person's
    interests by recklessly adding to, erasing or otherwise altering the
    program or the data.
    [Recommendations 5, 7 and 10]

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person does not have authority to
    obtain access to a program or data stored in a computer, or to a part of
    such program or data, if he does not have the authority of a person
    entitled to control such access.
    [Recommendation 9]

(4) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a person
    shall not commit an offence under this section if he obtains such access as
    aforesaid in pursuance of a warrant issued by the Secretary of State under
    section 2 of this Act.
    [Recommendation 10]


2.(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Secretary of State may
     issue a warrant requiring the person to whom it is addressed to obtain
     access to a program or data stored in a computer, or to any part of such
     program or data, for the purpose of acquiring information; and such a
     warrant may also require the person to whom it is addressed to disclose
     any information so acquired to such persons and in such manner as are
     described in the warrant.
     [Recommendation 13]

(2) The Secretary of State shall not issue a warrant under this section
    unless he considers that the warrant is necessary -

       (a) in the interests of national security;
       (b) for the purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime; or
       (c) for the purpose of safeguarding the economic well-being of the
           United Kingdom.
    [Recommendation 14]

(3) The matters to be taken into account in considering whether a warrant
    is necessary as mentioned in subsection (2) above shall include whether the
    information which it is considered necessary to acquire could reasonably
    be acquired by other means.
    [Recommendation 13]

(4) A warrant shall not be considered necessary as mentioned in subsection
    (2)(c) above unless the information which it is considered necessary to
    acquire is information relating to the acts or intentions of persons
    outside the British Islands.
    [Recommendation 13]

(5) A warrant under this section shall specify or describe an address or
    addresses, being an address or addresses used, or likely to be used, to
    accommodate a computer containing a program or data the examination of
    which the Secretary of State considers necessary as mentioned in subsection
    (2) above.

(6) Sections 4 to 10 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985 and
    Schedule 1 of that Act shall, subject to the adaptations set out in the
    Schedule of this Act, apply in relation to a warrant under this section.


3.  A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable -

        (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not
            exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory
            maximum, or both; or
        (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not
            exceeding 5 years or to an unlimited fine, or both.
    [Recommendation 11]


4.  A court in Scotland shall have jurisdiction to entertain proceedings
    for an offence under this Act if at the time the offence was committed -

        (a) the accused was in Scotland; or
        (b) the program or the data in relation to which the offence was
            committed was stored in a computer in Scotland.
    [Recommendation 17]


5.(1) This Act may be cited as the Computer Crime (Scotland) Act 1987.

(2) This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of 2 months
    beginning with the day on which it is passed.

(3) This Act extends to Scotland only.

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