Obscenity Ao3 Flashcards
Deprave and corrupt - problematic terms
• Deprave – the courts have interpreted this as meaning to make
morally bad , to debase, to pervert or to morally corrupt
• Corrupt – the courts have interpreted this as meaning to render morally unsound or rotten, destroy purity or chastity , to pervert or ruin
• Lady Chatterley’s Lover (R v Penguin Books Ltd 1961) and the prosecution of the publishers of Last Exit to Brooklyn (R v Calder and Boyars Ltd 1969), the courts have defined “deprave” as meaning to make morally bad, debase, pervert or corrupt morally; and “corrupt”
Does the law on obscenity restrict A10 too much?
(NO)
• Very important in the protection of vulnerable / children ( S1 Protection of Children Act 1978 – obscene photographs)
• In recent years significant rise in these prosecutions - now includes “pseudo images” ( eg AI generated ) and storing images
• Wide range of defeces available
• Most offences require INENT for mens rea
• Protection for some types of content eg artistic merit
• Power to seize content has pratical effect of stopping circulation of some content
Does the law on obscenity restrict A10 too much?
(YES)
• Historically few prosecution but now increasing due to digital content ( Since Perrin)
• A huge range of laws can be used to restrict content – eg Video Recordings Act
• Gives police very extensive powers to seize material and wide discretion on what is obscene ( eg in 2000s Manchester police seized T-shirts with “Gunchester” written on them )
• Concerned those unwittingly receiving images are criminalised • Concerns over very broad / unclear definitions of indecency
• Mere possession of “prohibited images” introduced in Coroners +
Justice Ct 2009
• Newer controls have led to concerns about A8 , surveillance and privacy ( especially as filtering + monitoring technology develops)
• As the law has developed over time the emphasis has switched from the producer / publisher to the viewer - widens the number of people subject to these laws !
• Laws on Obscenity / indecently still have a very strong moral element – this includes criminalising images of some (extreme) consensual acts. So is this morality widely shared ?
