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OBSCENITY (from the adjective " obsce...
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See also:OBSCENITY (from the See also:adjective " obscene," See also:Lat. obscenus, evil-looking, filthy) . By See also:English See also:law it is an indictable See also:misdemeanour to show an obscene See also:exhibition or to publish any obscene See also:matter, whether it be in See also:writing or by pictures, effigy or otherwise. The precise meaning of " obscene " is, however, decidedly ambiguous. It has been defined as " something offensive to modesty or decency, or expressing or suggesting unchaste or lustful ideas or being impure, indecent or lewd." But the test of criminality as accepted in See also:England and See also:Canada is whether the exhibition or matter complained of tends to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences and who are likely to visit the exhibition, or to see the matter published. If the exhibition or publication is calculated to have this effect, the See also:motive of the publisher or exhibitor is immaterial. Even in the See also:case of judicial proceedings, See also:newspapers are not privileged to publish See also:evidence which falls within the See also:definition. In dealing with writings alleged to be obscene, the See also:court and See also:jury have to consider the effect of the whole See also:work and not merelythe particular See also:extract challenged as improper; and in practice it is difficult to induce juries to convict the publishers of well-known and old-established See also:works of real See also:literary quality on the ground that they contain passages offensive to See also:modern notions of propriety. In the case of exhibitions of See also:sculpture and pictures some difficulty is found in See also:drawing the See also:line between representations of the nude and works which fall within the definition above stated—a difficulty raised in a somewhat acute See also:form before the See also:London See also:County See also:Council in 1907 by theatrical representations of " living statuary." Besides the remedy by See also:indictment there are statutory See also:pro-visions for punishing as vagabonds persons who expose to public view in public streets or adjacent premises obscene prints, pictures or other indecent exhibitions. These are supplemented by similar provisions, applicable to the See also:metropolis and to county towns, and (by a See also:statute of 1889) for suppressing certain kinds of indecent advertisements. By an See also:act of 1857 See also:powers are given for searching premises on which obscene books, &c., are kept for See also:sale, See also:distribution, &c., and for ordering their destruction, and the See also:post See also:office authorities have See also:power to seize postal packets containing such matter and to prosecute the sender. In 1906 the London publisher of a weekly comic See also:paper was punished for inserting advertisements inviting readers to acquire by post from abroad matter of this See also:kind. The use of obscene or indecent See also:language in public places is punishable as a misdemeanour at See also:common law, but it is usually dealt with summarily, under the See also:Metropolitan See also:Police Act 1839, or the See also:Town Police Clauses Act 1847, or under See also:local by-See also:laws. See also:British Possessions.—In British See also:India obscene publications, exhibitions, &c., are punished under articles 292, 293 and 294 of the Penal See also:Code. See also:Special exception is made for representations in temples or on cars used for See also:conveyance of idols or kept or used for religious purposes. In those British possessions whose law is based on the common law the offences above dealt with are offences at common law or under colonial statutes embodying the common law, e.g. See also:Queensland Code, 1899, SS. 172, 227, 228, 374 (3) ; Western Australian Code, 1901, ss. 203, 204, 352 (3); See also:Canadian Criminal Code, s. 179. In New See also:South See also:Wales and Western See also:Australia, by acts of 1901 and 1902, provisions have been made for dealing summarily with in-decent and obscene publications based to some extent on the English legislation of 1889 against indecent advertisements. In the Colonial acts no See also:penalty is incurred if the See also:defence can prove that the incriminated publication is a work of recognized literary merit, e.g. See also:Aristophanes or See also:Boccaccio's Decameron, or is a See also:bona-fide medical work circulated in the manner permitted by the statutes. See also:United States.—Under the Federal Law (Revised Statutes, s. 3893) penalties are imposed for transmitting obscene matter by the U.S. mails; see U.S. v. Wales (1892), 51 Fed. See also:Rep. 41. (W. F. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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