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almost all circumstances, unauthorized disclosure is an offence only if a specific test of harm is met and the person concerned knew that it would be harmful. It is for the jury alone to decide whether a particular disclosure meets the relevant harm test and to determine all other matters under the Act.
Blasphemy
258. The old criminal law on blasphemy has seldom been used; the last public prosecution in England and Wales was in 1921 and the last private one in 1977. Blasphemy and its written form, blasphemous libel, are common law offences; that is, their scope and definition are the result of successive judgements in the courts. The courts have held them to consist of using language which is scurrilous, abusive or offensive and which tends to vilify God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or the formularies of the Church of England. Following the most recent prosecution for blasphemous libel the "Gay News" trial in 1977 - the Law Commission for England and Wales examined the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. In its 1985 report on offences against religion and public worship it concluded, by a majority of its members, that these offences should be abolished and not replaced. A minority proposed a new statutory offence applying to all religions, and were supported in this view in a 1988 report commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury to consider the Law Commission's report.
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259. The publication of the book The Satanic Verses has given rise to calls on the one hand for the law on blasphemy to be extended to protect Islam and other religions and on the other for it to be abolished altogether. These are plainly incompatible positions which allow of no compromise. United Kingdom recognizes that this is a difficult area where there are strongly held views on both sides, but the Government has no plans at present for legislation. There have also been calls on the Government to suppress the book. Ministers have made it clear in reply that they have no powers to suppress or ban publications and that the right to freedom of expression is qualified only by the relevant provisions of the criminal law.
Obscenity
260. Under the Obscene Publications Act 1959, an article is deemed to be obscene if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear the matter which it contains. The Government takes the view that this test of what is obscene does not afford adequate protection to the public against the worst type of material in circulation, and supported attempts in 1986 and 1987 by private Members in the House of Commons to strengthen the test of obscenity. Both attempts were controversial and failed. Parliament, however, legislated in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to make the simple possession of an indecent photograph of a person under the age of 16 a criminal offence. To take, distribute or show such photographs, or possess them with a view to distributing or showing them, was already an offence under the Protection of Children Act 1978. Positive action taken by the Government in respect of broadcasting standards and classification of video recordings is set out in paragraphs 262, 263 and 270 below.
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