Lord DUNLEATHasked Her Majesty's Government:
What criteria are used to determine whether or not publications are obscene, what procedures are employed to monitor literature before it is placed on sale to the public, and what is the nature of evidence required before a bookseller can he prosecuted for the sale of obscene literature.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHThere is no censorship of literature in this country and it is for publishers who wish to seek advice as to the legality of forthcoming publications to consult their own legal advisers. Whether a publication is obscene is for the courts to determine according to the statutory tests of whether its effect is, taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. Before convicting a person accused of an offence under the Obscene Publications Acts, a court will require evidence that the person concerned published or had for publication for gain the article in question, but the issue of its obscenity is one for the judgment of the court, and evidence on the issue is not normally admissible.
House adjourned at twenty-five minutes past seven o'clock.