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Prohibition on publication or broadcast of certain material
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24. The Act of 1997 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 10:
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“10A. (1) Subject to this section, a person (other than the alleged victim) who, where a person is charged with an offence under section 10, publishes or broadcasts identifying material shall be guilty of an offence.
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(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply where the alleged victim consents in court to being identified.
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(3) The court in which proceedings for the offence are brought may, where satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to do so, direct that such information, photograph, depiction or other representation to which subsection (1) applies as the court may specify may be published or broadcast in such manner, and subject to such conditions, as may be specified in the direction.
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(4) Before giving a direction under subsection (3), the court shall take into account—
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(a) the views of the alleged victim, and
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(b) the nature or circumstances of the case, and in particular the effect of the publication or broadcast concerned on the alleged victim.
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(5) A direction given under subsection (3) shall be in writing.
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(6) A person who contravenes the terms of a direction given under subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence.
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(7) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (6) is liable—
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(a) on summary conviction to a class B fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or
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(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
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(8) It shall be a defence for a person who is charged with an offence under subsection (1) or (6) to prove that at the time of the alleged offence the person was not aware, and neither suspected nor had reason to suspect—
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(a) in the case of an offence under subsection (1), that the information, photograph, depiction or other representation published or broadcast was identifying information, or
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(b) in the case of an offence under subsection (6), that the information, photograph, depiction or other representation was published or broadcast in contravention of the terms of a direction given under subsection (3).
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(9) This section is without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law that operates to prohibit the publication or broadcast of identifying material.
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(10) In this section—
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‘alleged victim’, in relation to an offence under section 10, means the alleged victim of that offence;
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‘broadcast’ has the same meaning as it has in the Broadcasting and Other Media Regulation Acts 2009 and 2022;
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‘identifying material’, in relation to an offence under section 10, means—
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(a) information, or
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(b) a photograph, depiction or other representation of the physical likeness of the alleged victim,
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that is likely to enable the identification of the alleged victim;
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‘publish’ means publish, other than by way of broadcast, to the public or a portion of the public.”.
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