A new Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill has had its first
reading in Parliament, which means that it has been published and
awaits debate and committee scrutiny.
The possession of extreme pornography will be punishable by up
to three years in jail, according to a statement from the Ministry
of Justice. "Material covered will include necrophilia, bestiality
and violence that is life threatening or likely to result in
serious injury to the anus, breasts or genitals," said the
statement.
Such material has been illegal to publish until now under the
Obscene Publications Act. The material has not been illegal to view
or possess, though; the new law will make possession a crime.
Images of child pornography are already illegal to view or to
possess.
The legislation is designed to tackle the fact that with
internet publishing something can be created and published on the
other side of the world and instantaneously viewed or stored in the
UK.
"[This material] can be accessed in the UK from abroad via the
internet. Legislating in this area will ensure that the possession
of such material is illegal both on and off line," said the
Ministry of Justice. "This Government will always seek to close
gaps in the law caused by misuse of new technologies, such as the
internet, which allow existing controls to be avoided."
The legislation covers realistic pictures, even those which are
not photographs, moving images, and files or data that can be
converted into pictures.
The new law is designed to take account of the context of
images, and recognises that an image which might seem to constitute
extreme pornography in isolation may not do so in a wider
context.
"Where an image forms an integral part of a narrative constituted
by a series of images, and it appears that the series of images as
a whole was not produced solely or principally for the purpose of
sexual arousal, the image 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," said
the published bill.
"The new law is not intended to target those who accidentally
come into contact with obscene pornography; nor would it target the
mainstream entertainment industry which works within current
obscenity laws or those who sell bondage material legally available
in the UK," said the Ministry of Justice statement.
