Malicious Communications Flashcards
Q: What Act creates the mal comms offence?
Malicious Communications Act 1988
S1- offence of sending letters etc with intent to cause distress or anxiety
Q: Wording of s1?
S1(1) A person who sends to another person-
(a) a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys—
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive;
(ii) a threat; or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender; or
(b) any article or electronic communication which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,
is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.
Q: What type of offence is mal comms?
Triable either way offence.
Q: What is meant by ‘indecent’ and ‘grossly indecent’?
No definitions provided by the Act.
Case law tells us we have to treat them as ordinary words in the English language.
Q: What does ‘sending to another’ mean?
Includes transmitting.
Q: Does the only/main purpose have to be to cause distress or anxiety to the recipient?
One of the sender’s purposes has to be to cause distress or anxiety. It does not have to be the only purpose or the main purpose, as long as it remains one of the purposes.
Q: What does ‘electronic communication’ include?
S1(2A) Electronic communication includes;
(a) any oral or other communication by means of an electronic communications network; and
(b) any communication (however sent) that is in electronic form.
Q: What if someone does not deliver the message themselves and it is done via third party?
The offence can also be committed by using someone else to send, deliver or transmit a message. This might include occasions where someone falsely reports that someone has been a victim of a crime in order to cause anxiety or distress to them or someone else by the arrival of the police.
Q: What is the defence regarding threatening communications?
S1(2) A person is not guilty of an offence if he shows—
(a) that the threat was used to reinforce a demand made by him on reasonable grounds; and
(b) that he believed, and had reasonable grounds for believing, that the use of the threat was a proper means of reinforcing the demand.
Q: What must you show for the defence?
This is an objective test. D must show that there were:
1. Reasonable grounds for making the demand
2. That he believed the accompanying threat was a proper means of enforcing the demand
3. That reasonable grounds existed for that belief
