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== Law ==
{{Globalize|date=August 2024}}
Espionage against a nation is a crime under the [[legal code]] of many nations. In the United States, it is covered by the [[Espionage Act of 1917]]. The risks of espionage vary. A spy violating the host country's laws may be deported, imprisoned, or even executed. A spy violating its own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage or/and [[treason]] (which in the United States and some other jurisdictions can only occur if they take up arms or aids the enemy against their own country during wartime), or even executed, as the [[Rosenbergs]] were. For example, when [[Aldrich Ames]] handed a stack of dossiers of U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) agents in the [[Eastern Bloc]] to his KGB-officer "handler", the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), he faced life in prison; his contact, who had [[diplomatic immunity]], was declared ''[[persona non grata]]'' and taken to the airport. Ames' wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence. [[Hugh Francis Redmond]], a CIA officer in China, spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage—and died there—as he was operating without diplomatic cover and immunity.<ref>{{cite web|title=CIA Status Improves Contractor's Case for Immunity|url=http://newamericamedia.org/2011/02/cia-status-improves-contractors-case-for-immunity.php|publisher=New America Media|access-date=2013-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102085259/http://newamericamedia.org/2011/02/cia-status-improves-contractors-case-for-immunity.php|archive-date=2013-11-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
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=== Espionage laws in the UK ===
Espionage is illegal in the UK under the [[National Security Act 2023]], which repealed prior Official Secrets Acts and creates three separate offences for espionage. A person is liable to be imprisoned for life for committing an offence under Section 1 of the Act, or 14 years for an offence under Sections 2 and 3
Espionage is illegal in the UK under the Official Secrets Acts of 1911 and 1920. The UK law under this legislation considers espionage as "concerning those who intend to help an enemy and deliberately harm the security of the nation". According to [[MI5]], a person commits the offence of 'spying' if they, "for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State": approaches, enters or inspects a prohibited area; makes documents such as plans that are intended, calculated, or could directly or indirectly be of use to an enemy; or "obtains, collects, records, or publishes, or communicates to any other person any secret official code word, or password, or any sketch, plan, model, article, or note, or other document which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy". The illegality of espionage also includes any action which may be considered 'preparatory to' spying, or encouraging or aiding another to spy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/the-threats/espionage/espionage-and-the-law.html |title=Espionage and the law |website=MI5 - the Security Service |access-date=2014-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925142433/https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/the-threats/espionage/espionage-and-the-law.html |archive-date=2014-09-25 }}</ref>
 
Under the penal codes of the UK, those found guilty of espionage are liable to imprisonment for a term of up to 14 years, although multiple sentences can be issued.
 
==== Government intelligence laws and its distinction from espionage ====
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