Art, Freedom and the Christian Law of England
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X9400100308 |
| Author | Paul Kearns |
| Published date | 01 September 1994 |
| Date | 01 September 1994 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Paul Kearns *
Art, Freedom and the Christian Law of England
Regina
vChief
Metropolitan
Stipendiary
Magistrate,
Ex
Parte
Choudhury
I
§1. Introduction
There is a legal belief, arguably mistaken, that art can be blasphemous. This note takes
an English case as its paradigm and refers to the treatment of 'blasphemous art' at a
European level to cast in relief the conclusions that have arisen in this area in English
domestic law. Appropriately detailed attention to the nature and operation
of
art is
rarely given in legal proceedings, even when necessary, and the aim of this note is to
highlight the problems that arise from that undesirable lacuna.
A.
PART
A
On the 13 March 1989, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, sitting at Bow Street
Magistrates' Court, London refused to grant the applicant, Abdul Hussain Choudhury,
summonses he had applied for against Salman Rushdie, the author, and Viking Penguin
Publishing Co. Ltd., the publishers,
of
a book entitled
'The
Satanic Verses', alleging
the commission
of
the offences
of
blasphemous libel and seditious libel at common law.
The said novel won the Whitbread Prize for Literature in 1988 and has been translated
into at least fifteen languages. It has been banned in all Muslim countries, China, India
and South Africa. The applicant sought summonses alleging that the author and
publishers had published or caused to be published in the work
'a
blasphemous libel
concerning Almighty God (Allah), the Supreme Deity common to all major religions
of the world and the religion
of
Islam and Christianity' and a seditious libel in that
it raised widespread discontent and disaffection among Her Majesty The Queen's
subjects. The relief the applicant sought was an order of certiorari to quash the decision
*
I. Lecturer In Law, The University Of Leicester, United Kingdom.
(1990) 3 WLR at 986-1005.
MJ 1 (1994) 307
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