UK: Non-Disclosure Agreements: Criminal Conduct
Authors: Stephen Miller, Corinna Harris, and Charlotte Stern
New rules governing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the UK came into force on 1 October 2025.
From 1 October, new rules mean that NDAs and confidentiality clauses that seek to prevent victims from informing certain categories of people about a crime, will be unenforceable.
Victims of crime who sign NDAs may disclose information about relevant criminal conduct to certain individuals for specified purposes, including:
- The police, to enable them to help with an investigation
- Qualified lawyers, providing legal advice about criminal conduct
- Regulated professionals providing professional support, including healthcare workers
- Victim support services
- Regulators
- Close family members
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel
These changes apply only to NDAs signed from 1 October 2025 onwards, with earlier agreements remaining subject to the previous rules.
Employers should check that their confidentiality clauses, including those in contracts of employment and settlement agreements, allow employees to make disclosures permitted under the new rules.
