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274:, prohibits the importation of harmful publications into the United Kingdom. The prohibition also applies to "any plate prepared for the purpose of printing copies of any such work and any photographic film prepared for that purpose." Section 4 is the origin of the
208:"...any book, magazine or other like work which is of a kind likely to fall into the hands of children or young persons and consists wholly or mainly of stories told in pictures (with or without the addition of written matter), being stories portraying—
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to print, publish, sell or let on hire such a comic, or to possess one for the purpose of selling or letting it. The offence is punishable by imprisonment for up to 4 months or a £1,000 fine (increased from £100 in 1975 (Scotland) and 1982 (England)).
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There were no prosecutions under the Act until 1970, when there were two. The
Attorney General refused to prosecute in 46 other cases between 1955 and 1982. There were no offences under the act recorded between April 2004 and February 2008.
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Section 5 includes "No provision of this Act, other than the provisions of the last foregoing section, shall extend to
Northern Ireland." It also originally included a
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in such a way that the work as a whole would tend to corrupt a child or young person into whose hands it might fall."
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An Act to prevent the dissemination of certain pictorial publications harmful to children and young persons.
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of the
Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 at the National Archives website (retrieved 30 August 2023).
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Section 1 defined the kind of publication which the Act was intended to deal with. It applied to:
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which had become popular by the 1950s. This issue was drawn to the attention of
Parliament by the
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under which the Act was to expire on 31 December 1965, unless
Parliament decided otherwise. The
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that were thought to be harmful to children. The Act was introduced by the Home
Secretary,
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as in force today (including any amendments) within the United
Kingdom, from
384:"Children And Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 (as Revised)"
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used to print them. To contravene the section is an offence under the
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Text of the
Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955
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Children and Young
Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1955
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Children and Young
Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955
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Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955
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S. 5(5) repealed by Expiring Laws Act 1969 (c. 61), s. 1
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Section 4, the only section of the Act that applies to
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218:(c) incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature;
290:, punishable with up to 7 years' imprisonment.
256:to prosecute the offence in England and Wales.
259:Section 3 gives the courts the power to issue
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241:The offence was originally triable before a
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229:Section 2(1) made it a criminal offence in
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252:Section 2(2) requires the consent of the
482:Children's rights in the United Kingdom
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472:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1955
288:Customs and Excise Management Act 1979
180:), in response to the publication of
133:Text of statute as originally enacted
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215:(b) acts of violence or cruelty; or
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477:Censorship in the United Kingdom
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212:(a) the commission of crimes; or
176:(a son of former prime minister
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320:Obscene Publications Act 1959
278:prohibition against mailing
487:Youth in the United Kingdom
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186:National Union of Teachers
18:United Kingdom legislation
267:of harmful publications.
166:United Kingdom Parliament
39:United Kingdom Parliament
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301:made the Act permanent.
245:. However it is today a
190:Archbishop of Canterbury
80:Territorial extent
299:Expiring Laws Act 1969
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388:The National Archives
325:Comics Code Authority
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174:Gwilym Lloyd George
73:Gwilym Lloyd George
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178:David Lloyd George
144:legislation.gov.uk
454:The full text of
231:England and Wales
162:Act of Parliament
158:3 & 4 Eliz. 2
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62:3 & 4 Eliz. 2
27:Act of Parliament
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261:search warrants
247:summary offence
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194:Geoffrey Fisher
160:. c. 28) is an
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126:Status: Amended
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391:. Retrieved
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305:Prosecutions
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116:Commencement
106:Royal assent
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188:and by the
120:6 June 1955
466:Categories
393:23 October
371:Section 50
332:References
276:Royal Mail
265:forfeiture
200:Provisions
110:6 May 1955
47:Long title
95:(in part)
314:See also
284:matrices
282:and the
235:Scotland
89:Scotland
57:Citation
435:Hansard
423:Hansard
411:Hansard
359:Hansard
347:Hansard
164:of the
64:. c. 28
170:comics
100:Dates
395:2010
243:jury
233:and
152:The
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339:^
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156:(
146:.
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