On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:22:37 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:

Some OSA offences concern(ed) actions taken _after_ various
acknowledgements have been made so signing the piece of paper does
make a difference. Other offences can/could only be committed by
certain classes of person whose employment would not have been
continued in the absence of various OSA declarations required to be
made on their first day of employment.

There is no reference to "signing" anything within the OSAs, or to specific
offences by persons who have signed or made any declarations.

The only area where there is any additional notification involved is for
persons involved in Security and Intelligence, where the person concerned
must be served with a notice informing them that an additional section of
the 1989 Act applies to them.

AFAIR the offences concerning retention of documents are very much
dependant on the appropriate bits of paper having been signed for an
offence to be proved. The 1989 Act also applies to "a person notified
that he is subject to the provisions of this subsection" [s.1(1)(b)],
not just "a member of the security and intelligence
services"[s.1(1)(a)].