House of Lords
| DOI | 10.1177/002201839105500204 |
| Published date | 01 May 1991 |
| Date | 01 May 1991 |
| Subject Matter | House of Lords |
HOUSE
OF
LORDS
'NOT
UNLAWFUL' SEX ESTABLISHMENTS
McMonagle v Westminster CC
It is not uncommon for a defendant to argue that, although his
conduct is illegal the actions of which he is guilty do not amount
to the offences with which he is charged, although they admittedly
amount to some
other
crime. In McMonagle v Westminster CC
(1990) 154 JP 854, however, the appellant argued that this was so
in his case because it was the very immorality and criminality of
his actions which prevented him from being guilty as charged. The
success of his defence depended, as he claimed, on whether he
could establish the immorality and the criminality of the conduct
alleged against him, which conduct he admitted. In the House of
Lords, it was stated by Lord Bridge that the House found it 'both
startling and unedifying' that an appellant found guilty of a
summary offence for which he could be (and was) fined should
seek to take the offence out of the enactment under which he was
charged, by reason only of the fact that he was guilty of much
graver indictable offences, for which he could receive substantial
terms of imprisonment. How, then, did this come about?
The code for the conduct of sex establishments contained in
Sched. 3 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act
1982 applies to two types of
establishment-sex
cinemas and sex
shops-in
any area in which the local authority has adopted the
code. Knowingly to use premises as a sex establishment without a
licence, or in breach of the terms or conditions of such a licence,
is an offence under para 20(1)(a) of the Schedule. The Greater
London Council (General Powers) Act 1986permitted any London
borough council which had adopted Sched 3 to the earlier Act to
adopt also the amendment to that Schedule made by s 12 of the
1986 Act, which introduced (into the law) a new kind of sex
establishment known as a 'sex encounter establishment'. This was
defined as including (inter alia) premises where sexually stimulating
performances are given by persons without clothes 'exposing the
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