§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce early legislation making illegal the production, manufacture and distribution of computer discs containing sexually explicit material.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonIt is already an offence, under section 51(2) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, for any person to publish, sell or distribute or, with a view to its eventual sale or distribution, make, print, have or keep any obscene material. The definition of material includes any "disc or other kind of recording (whether of sound or visual images or both)". For the avoidance of doubt, a Government amendment has been tabled to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill to ensure that computer transmissions are covered by section 51. The need for further legislation will be assessed in the light of the recently published report of the Home Affairs Select Committee on computer pornography.