Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend further the Criminal Justice Act 2015 in relation to online harassment and internet trolling.

Mike Penning

Legislation that can be used to prosecute online harassment and related offences includes the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; the Malicious Communications Act 1988; and the Communications Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made changes to the relevant offences in these last two Acts which aim to ensure that people who commit them are prosecuted and properly punished.

The Government believes that current legislation is sufficient and does not intend to introduce specific additional legislation to address online harassment and internet trolling.