Coroners and Justice (Amendment) Bill (HC Bill 68)
A
BILL
TO
Amend section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally
to the possession of prohibited written material about children; to make
consequential amendments to the Act; and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Possession of prohibited written material about children
(1)
Section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (offence of possession of
prohibited images of children) is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1), after “prohibited image of a child” insert “or prohibited
5written material about a child”.
(3) After subsection (2) insert—
“(2A) Prohibited written material about a child is written material which—
(a) is pornographic,
(b) falls within subsection (6), and
(c)
10is grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene
character.”
(4) In subsection (3), after “image” insert “or written material”.
(5) After subsection (5) insert—
“(5A)
Where (as found in the person’s possession) written material forms
15part of a series of written material, the question whether the written
material is of such a nature as is mentioned in subsection (2A) is to be
determined by reference to—
(a) the written material itself, and
(b)
(if the series of written material is such as to be capable of
20providing a context for the written material) the context in
which it occurs in the series of written material.
(5B) So, for example, where—
Coroners and Justice (Amendment) BillPage 2
(a)
written material forms an integral part of a narrative
constituted by a series of written material, and
(b)
having regard to those written materials as a whole, they are not
of such a nature that they must reasonably be assumed to have
5been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual
arousal,
the written material may, by virtue of being part of that narrative, be
found not to be pornographic, even though it might have been found to
be pornographic if taken by itself.”
(6)
10In subsection (6), insert “or written material” after the word “image” each time
it appears.
2 Short title, commencement and extent
(1) This Act may be cited as the Coroners and Justice (Amendment) Act 2012.
(2) This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.
(3) 15This Act extends to England and Wales, and Northern Ireland.