Coroners and Justice Bill
12:00 pm
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Justice; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
My hon. and learned Friend Mr. Garnier will ask about clauses 41 and 42. May I ask you some quick questions about clauses 49 to 52? Those clauses contain various definitions, such as “reasonably be assumed,” “impression conveyed” and “legitimate reason”. Do you think that such terms might be too subjective and might make it difficult to obtain prosecutions for the new offence? How will you interpret those terms in practice?
My second question is about the fear and concern that have been expressed by people in the arts world that there may be items of genuine historic interest that could be brought within the scope of the Bill. I do not think that anyone—certainly no one I have spoken to—has any truck with or time for the warped, depraved individuals who want to look at these things. However, if one looks back in history, some works of art are pretty pornographic. What is your estimate of the likely number of prosecutions annually for the offence of possession of a prohibited image of a child?