Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have taken place under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the offence of providing unrestricted access to hardcore pornography online, as set out in the 2005 Crown Prosecution Service guidelines, disaggregated by year.

Oliver Heald

The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ courts under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain), rather than identifying the number of people prosecuted.

Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 creates the offence of publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain.

The table below shows, in each of the last 8 years, for which figures are available, the number of offences, charged by way of Section 2 of the OPA 1959, and which reached a first hearing at magistrates’ courts, in England and Wales.

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