New restriction on enforceability of NDAs against victims of crime

From 1 October 2025, Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will stop victims of crime being prevented from speaking to the police, lawyers, support services and certain close family members under the terms of a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is an agreement which seeks to limit the information which a person can share with others. NDAs are also referred to as confidentiality clauses or confidentiality provisions, and sometimes informally described as “gagging clauses”.

The use of NDAs in employment contexts has come under sustained scrutiny as a result of the #MeToo movement. It is anticipated that further limits will be placed on the use of NDAs when the Employment Rights Bill passes, as a Government amendment to the bill proposed last month would render NDAs void if they attempt to prevent a worker from making an allegation or disclosure about harassment or discrimination. For further details of the proposed change, see our update article. However, today we will focus only on Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which comes into force this October.

What does the new restriction do?

Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 renders unenforceable and void any confidentiality provision which seeks to prevent victims of crime from disclosing information relating to criminal conduct to:

• The police, or any person with law enforcement functions;
• Lawyers;
• Other regulated professionals, including doctors and therapists;
• Regulators of those professions;
• Victim support services; or
• A child, parent, or partner, for emotional support.

The focus is very much on preserving victims’ abilities to report crimes and seek support, and Section 17 does not apply in respect of disclosures where the primary purpose is to release information into the public domain.

This new provision will apply in respect of confidentiality clauses in employment contracts and settlement agreements, as well as any other employment-related NDAs, where the employee or worker is a victim of crime. Victims of crime, for these purposes, includes those who have suffered any type of harm as a result of being subjected to criminal conduct, or as a result of witnessing such conduct.   

All types of criminal conduct are covered. In an employment context, one situation in which this new provision could apply is where an employee or worker has reported sexual misconduct which amounts to criminal conduct. It does not matter whether anyone has been charged with or convicted of a criminal offence, nor is there any requirement that the criminal conduct be reported to the police.

Action points

Solicitors drafting NDAs already need to have regard to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority’s Warning Notice, which states that NDAs should not be used to prevent individuals from:

• co-operating with a criminal investigation or prosecution;
• reporting an offence to a law enforcement agency;
• reporting misconduct, or a serious breach of our regulatory requirements to a regulator;
• making a protected disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998;
• making any disclosure required by law; or
• making a proper disclosure about the agreement or circumstances surrounding the agreement to professional advisers, such as legal or tax advisors and/or medical professionals and counsellors, who are bound by a duty of confidentiality.

It is likely that confidentiality clauses which comply with the SRA warning will already be largely compliant with Section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, but relevant documents (including precedents) – especially settlement agreements – should be reviewed in light of this change to the law. It is also worth checking that there is a carve out permitting disclosure of information to close family members which is sufficiently widely drafted as to permit disclosures to parents and children, in particular where the individual signing the agreement may be a victim of crime.

Going forward, it is very likely that wider changes will be required to confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements and other employment NDAs when the relevant provisions of the Employment Rights Bill come into force.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, August 2025