The publication of an obscene libel was an offence under the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Prior to the abolition b
section 1
of the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

of the distinction between

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

and

misdemeanour A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

, it was regarded as a misdemeanour. It has been abolished in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Coroners and Justice Act 2009
section 73(c)
/ref> The existence of this offence was denied by Hawkins; and by Holt, C.J., who said that it was within the jurisdiction of the spiritual courts.R v Read, Fort 98, 92 E
777
this decision was overruled by R v. Curl.

England and Wales

It was an offence under the common law of

to publish an obscene libel. This was an

indictable-only offence In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing ...

. However
section 2(4)
of the

Obscene Publications Act 1959 The Obscene Publications Act 1959 (c. 66) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament that significantly reformed the law related to obscenity in England and Wales. Prior to the passage of the Act, the law on publishing obscene mater ...

provided that a person publishing an article should not be proceeded against for an offence at common law consisting of the publication of any matter contained or embodied in that article where it was of the essence of the offence that the matter is "obscene". For this purpose the word "obscene" was defined b
section 1(1)
of that Act. Lord Reid said: Accordingly, the effect of section 2(4) is that it was not possible for a person to be prosecuted for this offence, unless the definition of "obscene" at common law was wider than the statutory definition of "obscene". This was probably not the case, because the statutory definition is a paraphrase of the definition given by Lord Cockburn, J., in R v Hicklin (1868) L.R. 3 Q.B. 360 at 371. The offence was abolished when section 73(c) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 came into force on 12 January 2010.

References

Halsbury's Laws of England ''Halsbury's Laws of England'' is a uniquely comprehensive encyclopaedia of law, and provides the only complete narrative statement of law in England and Wales. It has an alphabetised title scheme covering all areas of law, drawing on authorit ...

, 4th Edition, 2006 reissue, vol. 11(2), para. 753 (also note 6 to para. 748) *

Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice ''Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice'' (usually called simply ''Archbold'') is the leading practitioners' text for criminal lawyers in England and Wales and several other common law jurisdictions around the world. It has been in p ...

(2004), para. 31-60 {{History of English criminal law Defamation Common law English law Common law offences in England and Wales

England and Wales

See also

References