Part 5Criminal law
Pornography etc.
I166Defence: participation in consensual acts
1
This section applies where—
a
a person (“D”) is charged with an offence under section 63, and
b
the offence relates to an image that portrays an act or acts within paragraphs (a) to (c) (but none within paragraph (d)) of subsection (7) of that section.
2
It is a defence for D to prove—
a
that D directly participated in the act or any of the acts portrayed, and
b
that the act or acts did not involve the infliction of any non-consensual harm on any person, and
c
if the image portrays an act within section 63(7)(c), that what is portrayed as a human corpse was not in fact a corpse.
3
For the purposes of this section harm inflicted on a person is “non-consensual” harm if—
a
the harm is of such a nature that the person cannot, in law, consent to it being inflicted on himself or herself; or
b
where the person can, in law, consent to it being so inflicted, the person does not in fact consent to it being so inflicted.