Internet Watch Foundation

Hugo Swire MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what prosecutions there have been involving the posting or accessing of illegal content online in which legal proceedings are complete in each of the last three years.

Maria Eagle MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for various offences relating to the publication, possession or distribution of obscene matter, and indecent photographs (including of children), in England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2006 can be viewed in the following table.

 

N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for various offences relating to the publication, possession or distribution of obscene matter, and indecent photographs (including of children), in England and Wales for the years 2004 to 2006( 1,2)
Proceeded against
Statute	Offence description	2004	2005	2006
Obscene Publications Act 1959 Sec 2(1) as amended by Obscene Publications Act 1964 Sec 1(1)	Prohibition of publication of obscene matter	30	35	29
Protection of Children Act 1978 Section 1 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Sec 84 and Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.41(l)	Take, permit to be taken, or to make distribute or publish indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children	1,097	1,101	937
Criminal Justice Act 1988 Sec. 160 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000	Possession of an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph	159	160	162
Total	—	1,286	1,296	1,128
(1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice

 

There is no specific offence of the posting or accessing of illegal content online as the UK prosecutes the offence, such as the creation or publication of illegal imagery, rather than the medium used. All published material is subject to the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Under the Protection of Children Act 1978 (as amended), the UK has an absolute prohibition on the production, circulation and possession with a view to distribution of any indecent photograph of a child under 18.

 

Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.

 

Source: Hansard 26 February 2008