Criminal Law Legislation Update
| DOI | 10.1177/0022018315598495 |
| Date | 01 October 2015 |
| Author | Joanne Clough |
| Published date | 01 October 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Criminal Law Legislation Update |
Criminal Law Legislation Update
Criminal Law Legislation Update
As at 10 July 2015
Joanne Clough
Senior Lecturer in Law and Solicitor-Advocate, Northumbria University, UK
Serious Crime Act 2015
This edition of the legislation update outlines the provisions of the Serious Crime Act 2015 which have
recently come into force and which are due to come into force over the coming weeks. The Serious
Crime Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 3 March 2015 and gives legislative effect to a number
of proposals within the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy to ensure that the Natio nal Crime
Agency, the police and other law enforcement agencies have the powers to investigate and prosecute
those engaged in serious and organised crime. The Act also introduces provisions to tackle the issue of
female genital mutilation and domestic abuse, to increase prison security and to protect against the
ongoing terrorist threats.
Commencement date: 3 May 2015
Regulation 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2015 brought into
force the following provisions:
Computer Misuse (ss 41–44)
Sections 1–3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 contain a number of criminal offences concerning
unauthorised access to computer material or data, and acts with intent to impair the operation of a
computer. Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 makes four changes to this legislation. First, s. 41
SCA 2015 inserts a new s. 3ZA into the Computer Misuse Act creating a new indictabl e-only
offence of unauthorised acts causing or creating a risk of serious damage. This offence is aimed
at dealing with the most serious cyber-attacks, which may interrupt essential systems such as com-
munications, power supply or fuel distribution. Where an authorised act r esults in serious damage
to human welfare or to national security, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment. The maxi-
mum sentence is 14 years’ imprisonment where the act results in serious damage to the economy or
the environment.
Section 42 amends the offence of making, supplying or obtaining articles (i.e. hacker tools or mal-
ware) contained in s. 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 so that it covers obtaining a tool for per-
sonal use to commit a s. 1, s. 3 or s. 3ZA offence. This removes the requirement for the a ctual or
intended involvement of a third party for these offences as is currently the case. Section 43 extends
the scope of the offences in the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to allow for the prosecution of a UK
national who commits any s. 1–3A offence while outside the UK, where the only link to the UK is the
offender’s nationality, and provided the offence was also an offence in the country where it occurred.
Section 44 contains savings arrangements through the clarification of s. 10 Computer MisuseAct 1990
powers.
The Journal of Criminal Law
2015, Vol. 79(5) 304–308
ªThe Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0022018315598495
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