No one yet knows what a Jury might decide
What constitues "extreme" ?
The CPS say "Although the Act does not state what a serious injury is, prosecutors must be
aware that by the very nature of its name serious injury will not include
trivial or transient injuries which include bruises and grazes."
The Ministry of Justice's own advice helpfully says "As with any law, once Parliament has passed it, it is for the courts to interpret and apply it."
They go on to say
"10. An extreme act is one which threatens a person's life, which results or is likely to
result in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals, which involves sexual
interference with a human corpse, or which involves a person performing intercourse or
oral sex with an animal. Only these specific acts will be caught, and only in conjunction
with the other two elements of the offence.
11. Life-threatening is not defined in the Act. It will therefore take its ordinary English
meaning and will be a question of fact for the magistrate or jury. It could include
depictions of hanging, suffocation, or sexual assault involving a threat with a weapon.
12. Serious injury is not defined in the Act. It will be a question of fact for the magistrate or
jury. The intention is that "serious injury" should be given its ordinary English meaning.
The reference to "serious injury" was not intended to expressly link into the case law
with respect to "grievous bodily harm" under Sections 8 and 20 of the Offences
Against the Person Act 86 . Serious injury could include the insertion of sharp objects
or the mutilation of breasts or genitals.
13. As well as being a specified act, an extreme act must be explicit and realistic. Both
those terms take their ordinary dictionary definition.
14. A further requirement in respect of an extreme act is that a reasonable person looking
at the image would think that the people and animals portrayed were real. The practical
effect of that requirement is that only photographs and films, and images which are
indistinguishable from photographs and films, will be caught by the offence."
Scarification and Tattoos
In the case of extreme body modifications such as scarification by breaking the skin the law is not quite clear as no cases involving practitioners have yet come up to be ruled out by the court, let alone deciding if images of them are to be considered extreme.
The January 2009 case of
Dominique Fisher may shed some light on current judicial views.
A member of Informed Consent with experience in this area, frenchie, recommended this article in the
Journal of Environmental Health Research as a good place to start if this is an area of concern.
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Stay out of the bedroom
" The criminal law is drafted with great care, but sometimes its specific wording can trap victims and sentencers alike into facing unintended and unacceptable consequences. "
Jack Straw, opening for the Government in the House of Commons debate on this legislation in October 2007.
QC's conclusion "real concerns"
"In conclusion, I consider that the legislation as proposed gives rise to real concerns as to its compatibility with an individual's rights under Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention."
QC Rabinder Singh's Legal Opinion