UK Laws regarding importation of Hardcore Material

[Pianaman]

Just out of interest what happens if it does contain material that would be considered ilegal like fisting or pissing? Would they just stop at seizure of the goods or are there cases where they have prosecuted people? If goods are seized do you get some sort of criminal record?

[joe king]

pissing isn't illegal (unless in or on someone), to talk of 'illegal' is misleading ... (liable to seizure is better )

[Peter Woods]

The BBFC don't allow fisting and pissing (in a sexual context) in R18s because there have been cases where juries have decided that these acts are "obscene". Although it is not illegal to own obscene material, it is an offence to knowingly import it.
Of course, if you haven't seen the item, you can't make a decision as to whether you believe it is/isn't obscene, so Customs can arrange for you to view the item (ideally with your solicitor, who can help you make the decision) before you decide whether or not to appeal against the seizure.
If you decided to appeal and then lost, Customs could then proceed with a prosecution. It's not like the odds are stacked against the individual here or anything...


As a rule, Customs won't prosecute for personal importation of obscene adult material. In any case, if they intend to prosecute (e.g. they believe you're dealing in it or there's child porn) you won't get a seizure notice but a personal visit...

[Solid Paul]

Hey Peter, Joe - thanks for the advice guys. The seizure notice states 'Obscene Material' which I find does not make sense. I will investigate and get back to you.

Cheers for your advice.

Paul

[Paul Tavener]

Peter, isn't there some sort of unofficial 10 year rule at the BBFC where by if something hasn't been found obscene for ten years it might be considered?

Next question is there any chance that any material just beyond R18 might be incorporated in R18 by this method or have there been lots of recent cases? Or did I imagine this?

[Peter Woods]

Paul, until a couple of years ago, when distributors wanted to get a certificate for a horror title that had been cited in an obscenity case less than 10 years before, the BBFC applied token cuts in an effort to protect the distributors from being prosecuted for obscenity again for the same title. Fortunately, this daft practice was dropped in 2002, after the failed appeal against cuts to "Last House On The Left". I'm not sure the rule was ever applied to porn.

As for your second point, the idea that the R18 limit could be relaxed if a particular act is not found obscene when tested in court is a good one, although it's almost impossible to get good information about this sort of thing.

[DavidS]

Assuming the film in question went before a jury and was found to be obscene, I cannot see how it is known exactly which part the jury found to be obscene as jury delibarations cannot be discussed in England & Wales.

[Phil mCc]

I think you are treading on dangerous ground here, My understanding is an 18R could even be classed by a jury as obscene, the R18 is not a gaurantee against prosecution, I had a raid by plod and they took R18 stuff they even went as far as CPS with it, and only the law of common sense got me it back, That and we began steps to sue West Sussex police for taking the tools of my trade unlawfully. The CPS made it plain they felt the material was obscene even tho the BBFC gave it a BBFC18R and even deffended it to CPS/Police for me as did customs who advised they would abide by the BBFC guidlines.....This is not hearsay this is me, this is how it worked. My advise sign the form forget about the film and order from a different source in future, put it down to experiance.
We don't all need to be marter's

Phil McC

[webmong]

How crazy is that!? And how recent was it? How on earth can something the BBFC have approved then be questioned? It could make a mockery of the whole certification of videos.

[Peter Woods]

Although I agree with Phil McC that the CPS have deemed R18 material to be obscene in the past, I'm quite sure that they now accept the BBFC's guidelines and would not seek to prosecute any R18-level material now.

Regarding Customs, I can say for certain that it is their policy to use the R18 guidelines to determine whether to seize an item. After having a DVD seized myself around the time of the BBFC High Court case in 2000, I managed to get Customs to pass it on to me when the BBFC set their new standard to include most "vanilla" hardcore.

I'm not suggesting that anyone challenges the system (unless they've either got shedloads of money to throw at the problem, or nothing to lose) but I would encourage people not to throw in the towel when there's a good chance that someone in authority has made a mistake.