Criminal libel abolished

12 January 2010

The criminal offences of seditious, obscene and defamatory libel were abolished today, the Ministry of Justice has announced.

Section 73 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 also abolished the common law offence of sedition. A further form of criminal libel, blasphemous libel, was abolished by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Justice minister Claire Ward said: “Sedition and seditious and defamatory libel are arcane offences – from a bygone era when freedom of expression wasn’t seen as the right it is today.

“The existence of these obsolete offences in this country had been used by other countries as justification for the retention of similar laws which have been actively used to suppress political dissent and restrict press freedom.”

A spokeswoman for the MoJ said sedition involved acts done or words spoken with a seditious intention, including those encouraging disaffection against the Crown or the government. There must be an intention to incite violence or create public disorder.

Seditious libel was punishable by an unlimited fine or term of imprisonment.

The spokeswoman added that publication of obscene material was covered by the Obscene Publications Acts of 1959 and 1964.

In a separate move, the MoJ has today decided to allow the information commissioner to impose a fine of £500,000 on data controllers who seriously contravene data protection principles.

There was previously no monetary penalty. The decision follows a consultation. If it achieves parliamentary approval, the new powers will come into force on 6 April 2010.