§ 39. Sir C. Taylorasked the Attorney-General whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has now decided to prosecute for obscenity the publishers, printers and distributors of the book brought to his attention by the hon. Member for Eastbourne.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Director of Public Prosecutions is proceeding with the detailed inquiries which have to be made before he can decide whether criminal proceedings should be taken in respect of the publication of the book.
§ Sir C. TaylorAs the Director of Public Prosecutions has had this book in his hands for many days, and as the book is still on sale at many bookstalls throughout the country, can the Attorney-General do something about it as a matter of urgency?
§ The Attorney-GeneralI happen to know that the Director of Public Prosecutions has been engaged in one or two other activities in the course of the last week. The inquiries have been continued with due expedition, but the House must bear in mind that the test of obscenity under the Act is whether the book, taken as a whole, tends to deprave and corrupt those who are likely, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, to read it. For this purpose, therefore, not only has the book to be read and considered as a whole but inquiries have to be made as to the circumstances in which it has been or is being published or of the publication for gain which it may reasonably be expected that the possessor had in contemplation. The inquiries are being pressed on and the matter is being treated with due gravity.