UK: Public Order Act may drop “insulting” as an offence

December 10th, 2012

Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act could be adjusted to remove the word “insulting” from legislation, it was announced today (10 December). Director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer has said that past cases could be classified as “abusive”, as opposed to “insulting”. Section 5 has stirred controversy in the past: in 2010, a Christian preacher was charged with a public order offence for telling a police officer homosexuality was “a sin”. A Home Office spokesman told the Telegraph that it had “consulted on removing ‘insulting’ from the Act and was considering the responses.” The House of Lords will take a vote on the matter on Wednesday (12 December).

Does Keir Starmer see the problem with poppy burners?

November 13th, 2012

A panel discussion in London yesterday did not offer much hope that prosecutors and politicians will defend free speech online. Paul Bernal reports

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Green will not face charges

April 17th, 2009

Conservative MP Damian Green and civil servant Christopher Galley will not face charges relating to leaks of government documents after Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer QC found that the leaks did not endanger security. Read more here