The British Press and D-Notices
For those who wondered to what Mycroft was referring, let me enlighten you. We may have a free and independent press in the UK and the freedom of the press has as a principle been used to justify all sorts of near libel and press misdemeanours, there is one tool that the UK government has at its disposal - the D Notice.
The D-notice system is a peculiarly British arrangement, a sort of not quite public yet not quite secret arrangement between government and media in order to ensure that journalists do not endanger national security. It was established in 1912 to ensure that the British press did not leak (intentionally or not) information that would be useful to enemies of the UK. The public knew nothing about it right through the interwar period and through the second world war, too. Editors of newspapers and radio by and large engaged in self-censorship, meaning that it wasn’t needed as a formal legal instrument.
That all fell apart in 1967 when the Daily Express’ security editor (Chapman Pincher) wrote about how the intelligence services were scrutinising thousands of telegrams and other communications being sent abroad by British citizens. The Government took the editor and the Express to court - and lost! The case showed that the D Notice idea was a voluntary agreement.
By 1971, the Government responded by producing “standing D Notices”- that is, specific guidance on what could and what could not be published “in the public interest”. The fact that they were recommendations without legal standing was underscored by a name change in 1993. Henceforward, they were to be called DA (defence advisory) notices.
Under the system, the Government applies to a Secretary of the DA Committee (a panel of senior often retired individuals) who decide if it is warranted- that national security issues trump any issues of public interest. It doesn’t happen often! Between 1997 and 2008, only 30 were issued.
Mofftiss made an error in the above signage, as “D Notice” has been supplanted. The system was reviewed in 2015- in part because of the Snowden and Wikileaks controversies. Renamed DSMA Notices and broken down into different categories, the obligation not to publish focuses on
DSMA-Notice 01: Military Operations, Plans & Capabilities
DSMA-Notice 02: Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapon Systems and Equipment
DSMA-Notice 03: Military Counter-Terrorist Forces, Special Forces and Intelligence Agency Operations, Activities and Communication Methods and Techniques
DSMA-Notice 04: Physical Property and Assets
DSMA-Notice 05: Personnel and their Families who work in Sensitive Positions
Mycroft would have had to invoke DSMA Notice 05 to stop the news about Sherlock’s role in Magnussen’s murder becoming public. The operatives who were witness to the crime, Lady Smallwood and Sir Edgar would all be bound by the Official Secrets Act 1989, obliged by law not to disclose. Signing the act is a way to emphasise your obligations, but it is not required; you can still be compelled to keep silent.
Would it surprise you to know that I have signed a statement agreeing to be bound by the act?
