Regina v. Hicklin
Quick Summary
The case of Regina v. Hicklin (1868) established a key legal test for obscenity in British law. Presided over by Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn, the ruling defined obscene material as that which has a tendency "to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall". This "Hicklin test" allowed for isolated passages to be judged, rather than the work as a whole, and influenced obscenity laws in Britain and other countries for many years. The case was a significant development in the application of the Obscene Publications Act of 1857.123
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- Obscene Publications Act
In one significant case (Regina v. Hicklin, 1868) the test of literary morality was put as what a father could read aloud in his own home. While there were many successful prosecutions for outright pornography, the law was also invoked against works of literary merit and works with a…
Read MoreIn one significant case (Regina v. Hicklin, 1868) the test of literary morality was put as what a father could read aloud in his own home. While there were many successful prosecutions for outright pornography, the law was also invoked against works of literary merit and works with a…
Read More - obscenityObscenity laws in the 18th and 19th centuries
…subsequently established in Britain in Regina v. Hicklin (1868), in which the court held that obscene material is marked by a tendency “to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall.” It was understood that…
Read More…subsequently established in Britain in Regina v. Hicklin (1868), in which the court held that obscene material is marked by a tendency “to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall.” It was understood that…
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