United Kingdom
In England and Wales, the main legislation on pornographic materials is the Obscene Publications Act 1959, the Obscene Publications Act 1964, and the Indecent Displays (Control) Act 1981. Video-oriented depictions of hardcore material (with certain exceptions for works considered primarily 'artistic' rather than pornographic) were illegal until 1999, when the removal of trade barriers with other European Union member states allowed for the relatively free movement of such goods for personal use. R18-rated videos are only available in licensed sex shops, but hardcore pornographic magazines are available in shops selling newspapers and magazines. In 2008, the Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted a man under the Obscene Publications Act for a textual story on a pornography website involving Girls Aloud. Also that year, the Home Office introduced legislation to criminalize possession of what it has labelled extreme pornography; these laws are now contained in sections 63 to 68 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Child pornography is illegal ("child" is defined as a person under 18) to possess, produce (in terms of electronic copies), or to distribute, and is punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. In England and Wales, the law on this type of material is strictly defined by the Protection of Children Act 1978, Section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, further amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to include pseudo-photographs, and the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which raised the age for appearing in pornographic material from 16 to 18 (while the age of consent in the UK remains 16). Sale of pornography is restricted to adults. In Scotland, similar provisions are to be found in sections 52 and 52A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which was also amended by the 1994 Act and by the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005.
Read more about this topic: Pornography By Region, Europe
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
“Today’s difference between Russia and the United States is that in Russia everybody takes everybody else for a spy, and in the United States everybody takes everybody else for a criminal.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 18:3.