The Deputy will be aware that Article 40.6.1.i of the Constitution places an obligation on the legislature in regard to blasphemous libel. Successive Attorneys General had advised the Government that until the Constitution is amended by referendum, it is necessary that blasphemous libel remain a crime and that legislation must make provision for punishment of this crime.
In reforming our defamation laws, the previous Government opted to make minimum provision in regard to blasphemous libel in the new legislation. Section 36 of the Defamation Act 2009, therefore, removes the possibility of prison sentences and private prosecutions for blasphemous libel. It also provides for a defence to a defendant who proves that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.
The Constitutional Convention that is proposed in the Programme for Government will include blasphemy in its review.