Censorship of Publications Regulations, 1980

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 292/1980
• Year: 1980

S.I. No. 292 of 1980.

CENSORSHIP OF PUBLICATIONS REGULATIONS, 1980

I, GERARD COLLINS, Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 20 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 (No. 1 of 1946), and after consultation with the Censorship of Publications Board and the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board, hereby make the following Regulations:— 1. These Regulations may be cited as the Censorship of Publications Regulations, 1980 2. In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 (No. 1 of 1946);

"the Board" means the Censorship of Publications Board;

"the Appeal Board" means the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board. 3. The Censorship of Publications Regulations, 1946 to 1960, are hereby revoked. 4. A complaint made under section 6 of the Act in respect of a book shall—

( a ) be in writing,

( b ) state the reason why the complainant considers that the sale and distribution of the book in the State should be prohibited,

( c ) indicate the passages (if any) in the book upon which the complainant places particular reliance in support of his complaint, and

( d ) be accompanied by a copy of the book 5. A complaint made under section 9 of the Act in respect of a periodical publication shall—

( a ) be in writing,

( b ) state the reason why the complainant considers that the sale and distribution in the State of the issues of the publication which are the subject of the complaint and of future issues of the publication should be prohibited,

( c ) indicate the passages (if any) in the issues of the publication accompanying the complaint upon which the complainant places particular reliance in support of his complaint, and

( d ) be accompanied by a copy of each of not less than three recent issues of the periodical publication. 6. A prohibition order made under section 7 of the Act in respect of a book shall be in the form of Form A in the Schedule hereto. 7. A prohibition order made under section 9 of the Act in respect of a periodical publication shall be in the form of Form B in the Schedule hereto. 8. An appeal under section 8 of the Act in respect of a book shall be in the form of Form C or Form D in the Schedule hereto (whichever is appropriate) and shall, except in the case of such an appeal made by any five persons (each of whom is a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann) acting jointly, be accompanied by six copies of the book. 9. An application under section 8(4) of the Act in respect of a book shall be in the form of Form E or Form F in the Schedule hereto (whichever is appropriate) and shall, except in the case of such an application made by any five persons (each of whom is a member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann) acting jointly, be accompanied by six copies of the book. 10. (1) An application under section 10 of the Act in respect of a periodical publication shall be in the form of Form G or Form H in the Schedule hereto (whichever is appropriate).

(2) The application shall be accompanied by such copies of issues of the periodical publication as the Appeal Board may require. 11. An order of the Appeal Board revoking or varying a prohibition order in respect of a book shall be in the form of Form I in the Schedule hereto. 12. An order of the Appeal Board revoking or varying a prohibition order in respect of a periodical publication shall be in the form of Form J in the Schedule hereto. 13. A complaint or a form of prohibition order set out in the Schedule hereto may relate to any number of books or periodical publications and, where such a form relates to more than one book or periodical publication, the appropriate modifications may be made in the form. 14. (1) Where the Board decide to communicate with the author, editor or publisher of a book or periodical publication the subject of an examination under the Act, the communication shall be in the form of Form K set out in the Schedule hereto.

(2) Where the Board decide to communicate with the author, editor or publisher of a book or periodical publication the subject of an examination under the Act, it shall not be necessary for the Board to communicate with more than one of those persons unless they are of the opinion that it would be desirable to communicate with another or others. 15. Service of a communication under Regulation 14 of these Regulations may be effected by registered post and in proving service it shall be sufficient for the Board to show that the letter was properly addressed and posted. 16. If after 30 days from the date of the posting of a communication under Regulation 14 of these Regulations, or such longer period as the Board may in a particular case determine and specify, a reply has not been received by the Board to the communication, the Board may consider that the person to whom such communication was addressed has decided not to make any representations to the Board in respect of the Book or periodical publication to which the communication relates. 17. (1) An appellant or applicant to the Appeal Board may submit, in addition to the prescribed form, a written statement of the grounds upon which the appeal or application is based.

(2) The Appeal Board may, if they think fit, afford to any person an opportunity to appear before them and make oral submissions in relation to an appeal or application to the Appeal Board. 18. (1) The Register of Prohibited Publications shall be in two parts, one relating to books and the other relating to periodical publications.

(2) The part relating to books shall be in the form of Form L in the Schedule hereto, and the part relating to periodical publications shall be in the form of Form M in the Schedule hereto. 19. The Register of Prohibited Publications shall be open to inspection, free of charge, by any person at the office of the Censorship of Publications Board in the city of Dublin between the hours of 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on every week-day other than a Saturday or a day which is a public holiday within the meaning of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973 (No. 25 of 1973). 20. The fee payable for a copy of an entry in the Register of Prohibited Publications, certified in accordance with section 16 (7) of the Act, shall be fifty pence.

SCHEDULE

FORM A

CENSORSHIP OF PUBLICATIONS ACT, 1946

WHEREAS the Censorship of Publications Board have, in accordance with section 6 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 , examined the book described in the Schedule hereto and whereas the Board are of opinion that the said book—

*(a) is indecent or obscene

*(b) advocates the procurement of abortion or miscarriage or the use of any method, treatment or appliance for the purpose of such procurement

and that for the said reason (or reasons) the sale and distribution in the State of the said book should be prohibited, and whereas at a meeting of the Board held on the and attended by not less than four members, three at least of the members voted in favour of the making of a prohibition order in respect of the said book and not more than one member voted against it;

NOW the Censorship of Publications Board, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 7 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 , do hereby prohibit the sale and distribution in the State of the said book.

SCHEDULE

Signed by order of the Board. ...................................................... Chairman (or Member) of the Board ...................................................... Secretary

(*Delete (a) or (b) if not appropriate).

FORM B

CENSORSHIP OF PUBLICATIONS ACT, 1946 .

WHEREAS a complaint, in the prescribed manner, has been made to the Censorship of Publications Board in respect of the periodical publication described in the Schedule hereto, and whereas the Board, having examined the issues recently theretofore published of the said periodical publication are of opinion that the said issues —

*(a) have usually or frequently been indecent or obscene,

*(b) have advocated the procurement of abortion or miscarriage or the use of any method, treatment or appliance for the purpose of such procurement.

*(c) have devoted an unduly large proportion of space to the publication of matter relating to crime.

and that for that reason (or those reasons) the sale and distribution in the State of the said issues and future issues of the said periodical publication should be prohibited, and whereas at a meeting of the Board held on the and attended by not less than four members, three at least of the members voted in favour of the making of a prohibition order in respect of the said periodical publication and not more than one member voted against it;

NOW the Censorship of Publications Board, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 9 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 , do hereby prohibit the sale and distribution in the State of any issue of the said periodical publication on or after the

SCHEDULE

Signed by order of the Board. .......................................................... Chairman (or Member) of the Board .......................................................... Secretary.

(*Delete (a), (b) or (c) if not appropriate).

FORM C

CENSORSHIP OF PUBLICATIONS ACT, 1946

APPEAL IN RESPECT...