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| | 8C | Offences: further provision |
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| | (1) | Proceedings for an offence under section 8, 8A or 8B may be brought |
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| | within the period of six months from the date on which evidence |
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| | sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to warrant the proceedings |
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| | came to his knowledge; but no such proceedings may be brought by |
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| | virtue of this subsection more than three years after the commission of |
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| | (2) | For the purposes of subsection (1)— |
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| | (a) | a certificate signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor and stating |
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| | the date on which evidence sufficient in his opinion to warrant |
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| | the proceedings came to his knowledge shall be conclusive |
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| | evidence of that fact; and |
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| | (b) | a certificate stating that matter and purporting to be so signed |
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| | shall be deemed to be so signed unless the contrary is proved. |
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| | (3) | For the purposes of sections 8A and 8B “the relevant maximum” is— |
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| | (a) | in England and Wales, 51 weeks; |
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| | (b) | in Northern Ireland, three months. |
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| | (4) | In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of |
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| | paragraph 48 of Schedule 26 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), the |
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| | reference in subsection (3)(a) to 51 weeks is to be read as a reference to |
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| | Orders under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘A court sentencing or otherwise dealing with a person (“the defendant”) |
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| | convicted or acquitted of an offence— |
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| | (a) | of grievous bodily harm contrary to sections 18 or 20 of the Offences |
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| | Against the Person Act 1861; |
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| | (b) | of any offence contrary to section 21 of the Offences Against the Person |
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| | (c) | of any offence contrary to sections 22, 23, 24 or 25 of the Offences |
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| | Against the Person Act 1861; |
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| | (d) | of actual bodily harm contrary to section 47 of the Offences Against the |
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| | (e) | of common assault contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act |
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| | (f) | of a racially or religiously aggravated offence contrary to section 29 of |
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| | the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 |
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| | may, as well as sentencing him or dealing with him in any other way, make an |
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| | order under sections 5 or 5A, as appropriate, of the Protection from Harassment |
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| | Responsibility for publication of prohibited image |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | A person has a defence if— |
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| | (a) | he was not the author, editor or publisher of the prohibited image, |
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| | (b) | he took reasonable care in relation to its publication, and |
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| | (c) | he did not know, and had no reason to believe, that what he did caused or |
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| | contributed to the publication of the prohibited image. |
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| | (2) | For this purpose “author”, “editor” and “publisher” have the following meanings, |
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| | which are futher explained in subsection (3)— |
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| | “author” means the originator of the image, but does not include a person |
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| | who did not intend that an image originated by him be published at all; |
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| | “editor” means a person having editorial or equivalent responsibility for the |
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| | content of the image or the decision to publish it; and |
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| | “publisher” means a commercial publisher, that is, a person whose business |
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| | is issuing material to the public, or a section of the public, who issues |
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| | material containing the image in the course of that business. |
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| | (3) | A person shall not be considered the author, editor or publisher of an image if he |
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| | (a) | in printing, producing, distributing or selling printed material containing |
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| | (b) | in processing, making copies of, distributing, exhibiting or selling a film |
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| | or sound recording (as defined in Part I of the Copyright, Designs and |
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| | Patents Act 1988) containing the image; |
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| | (c) | in processing, making copies of, distributing or selling any electronic |
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| | medium in or on which the image is recorded, or in operating or |
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| | providing any equipment, system or service by means of which the |
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| | statement is retrieved, copied, distributed or made available in electronic |
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| | (d) | as the broadcaster of a live programme containing the image in |
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| | circumstances in which he has no effective control over the maker of the |
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| | (e) | as the operator of or provider of access to a communications system by |
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| | means of which the image is transmitted, or made available, by a person |
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| | over whom he has no effective control. |
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| | | In a case not within paragraphs (a) to (e) the court may have regard to those |
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| | provisions by way of analogy in deciding whether a person is to be considered the |
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| | author, editor or publisher of a statement. |
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| | (4) | Employees or agents of an author, editor or publisher are in the same positions as |
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| | their employer or principal to the extent that they are responsible for the content |
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| | of the image or the decision to publish it. |
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| | (5) | In determining for the purposes of this section whether a person took reasonable |
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| | care, or had reason to believe that what he did caused or contributed to the |
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| | publication of a prohibited image, regard shall be had to— |
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| | (a) | the extent of his responsibility for the content of the image or the decision |
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| | (b) | the nature or circumstances of the publication, and |
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| | (c) | the previous conduct or character of the author, editor or publisher. |
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| | (6) | This section does not apply to any publication which arose before the section |
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| | (7) | For the avoidance of doubt, the burden of proving or disproving, as the case may |
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| | be, any of the facts or matters in subsections (1) to (6) above is on the |
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| | Guidance on offences involving hatred on grounds of sexual orientation |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | The Secretary of State must issue guidance explaining the operation of the |
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| | offences under Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) that involve hatred |
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| | on the grounds of sexual orientation. |
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| | (2) | When considering whether to consent to a prosecution for an offence falling |
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| | within subsection (1), the Attorney General must have particular regard to— |
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| | (a) | guidance issued under subsection (1), and |
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| | (b) | the importance of the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of |
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| | thought, conscience and religion, respect for private and family life and |
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| | freedom of assembly and association provided by the European |
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| | Convention on Human Rights.’. |
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| | Prosecution not to disclose identity of witness to other defendants |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘Notwithstanding anything in the Criminal Proceedings and Investigations Act |
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| | 1996 or any other rule of law about disclosure of material by a prosecutor to the |
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| | defence, where an order is made following an application under section 70(3) in |
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| | a case in which there is more than one defendant, the prosecutor shall not disclose |
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| | to the other defendants the identity of the witness covered by the order or any |
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| | information that might enable the witness to be identified.’. |
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| | Abolition of rule in Hollington v. Hewthorn |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘Notwithstanding any rule of common law to the contrary, a finding of fact in |
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| | legal proceedings before any court or tribunal is admissible as evidence of the |
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| | existence of that fact in legal proceedings before any other court or tribunal.’. |
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| | That certain written evidence already reported to the House be appended to the |
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| | proceedings of the Committee. |
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| | Bill, as amended, to be reported. |
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