Obscene Publications Act 1959

摘要

The Obscene Publications Act 1959 reformed the law of obscenity in England and Wales, replacing the common-law Hicklin test with a statutory definition and adding important defences. Under s.1 an article is obscene if its effect, taken as a whole, is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see, or hear it. Section 2 creates the offence of publishing an obscene article (whether or not for gain), and the Obscene Publications Act 1964 extended liability to having an obscene article for publication for gain. Section 3 provides powers of search, seizure, and forfeiture. Crucially, s.4 provides a 'public good' defence where publication is justified as being in the interests of science, literature, art, or learning, and allows expert evidence on a work's merits — the defence relied on in the 1960 Lady Chatterley's Lover trial (R v Penguin Books).

要点

• Statutory test of obscenity — an article is obscene if its effect, taken as a whole, tends to deprave and corrupt likely readers/viewers (s.1)
• Offence to publish an obscene article (s.2); extended to possession for publication for gain by the Obscene Publications Act 1964
• Powers of search, seizure, and forfeiture of obscene articles (s.3)
• 'Public good' defence — publication justified in the interests of science, literature, art, or learning (s.4)
• Expert evidence admissible on a work's literary, artistic, scientific, or other merits (s.4)

章节

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