Part 3 Other forms of assistance

National security

39 Production or disclosure prejudicial to national security

(1) Nothing in any of the provisions of this Part, or any corresponding provision of an Act of the Scottish Parliament, requires or authorises the production of documents, or the disclosure of information, which would be prejudicial to the security of the United Kingdom.
(2) For the purposes of any such provision a certificate signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State to the effect that it would be prejudicial to the security of the United Kingdom for specified documents to be produced, or for specified information to be disclosed, is conclusive evidence of that fact.

Article 93
Other forms of cooperation
4. In accordance with article 72, a State Party may deny a request for assistance, in whole or in part, only if the request concerns the production of any documents or disclosure of evidence which relates to its national security.

This provision is narrower than the ICC Statute.

Under the Rome Statute a refusal to comply with an ICC request must be in accordance with Article 72. However, Section 39 does not require the Secretary of State to take "all reasonable steps" to resolve the matter through consultative means, and therefore the discretion afforded to the Secretary of State to issue conclusive certificates is wider than contemplated by the Rome Statute. However, in practice the Secretary of State is likely to comply with the obligations of the Rome Statute and only issue such certificates as a last resort after consultation.