Key Facts

• The maximum sentence for a possession offence under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 is four years.
• Clause 10 increases the maximum penalty from six months’ to two years’ imprisonment for offences related to importing, manufacturing, selling and supplying, or possessing weapons such as flick knives or gravity knives.
• Amendment 54 seeks to raise the penalty—from just a fine—to imprisonment for delivering bladed products or articles to someone under 18.
• The maximum penalty for selling prohibited offensive weapons to minors is increased from six months to two years.
• On 27 September, a 15-year-old girl was murdered with a knife by a 17-year-old perpetrator in Croydon.
• Delivery companies must have arrangements in place to ensure items are not delivered to under-18s; fines can range from £500 to £1 million.
• The Online Safety Act will regulate online marketplaces and prohibit the sale of illegal knives.
• Amendments 23, 24, and 43 amend clauses 11 and 77.
• Clause 11 extends the offence to cover non-verbal assistance in serious self-harm.
• Subsection (5) sets maximum penalties including fines or custodial terms of up to five years.
• Clause 11 creates offences related to encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.
• Subsection (3) of clause 12 ensures internet service providers are not liable for providing means through which others can send harmful content.
• Section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023 is repealed in consequence of these provisions.
• Clause 11 relates to offences involving encouragement or incitement of self-harm through digital communications.
• Scottish Ministers have decided not to extend the offence to Scotland under section 184 of the Online Safety Act.
• Clause 11 may apply to domestic abuse and conversion therapy scenarios but will be read in tandem with other relevant legislation like the Domestic Abuse Act.
• The clause builds on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
• It replaces existing offences related to upskirting and voyeurism with new criminal offences.
• Three new offences are created: taking or recording intimate images without consent, installing equipment for such purposes, and sharing or threatening to share intimate images.
• The base offence carries a maximum prison term of six months; the more serious offences carry a two-year sentence.
• The current definition of 'intimate image' includes nudity, sexual activity, or very private acts such as using the toilet.
• New clause 20 aims to cover images showing a woman without her hijab or niqab if she normally wears it.
• There are concerns that defining culturally significant clothing removal as an intimate image would not be immediately obvious to everyone in the UK.
• Amendment 56 would make it an offence to publish or host intimate photographs or films obtained unlawfully under sections 66A, 66AA, 66AC, and 66B.
• The amendment includes provisions for physical publication, online hosting on user-to-user services, and allowing public access by service administrators.
• Penalties for the offence include imprisonment of up to two years upon conviction on indictment.
• Amendment 57 introduces an offence for intentionally creating deepfake intimate images using digital technology.
• Proposed maximum penalties include imprisonment for up to two years for offenders.
• The amendments aim to complement the Government's announcement regarding Gabby Bertin’s pornography review.
• Dame Vera Baird, former Victims’ Commissioner, emphasized the need to make deepfakes unlawful.
• Amendment 57 targets images or films created using digital technology that appear to depict someone in an intimate state.
• The amendment covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and causing alarm, distress or humiliation.
• The Online Safety Act requires user-to-user services to remove illegal content when flagged.
• Under the Act, hosting sites are legally obligated to remove intimate images shared without consent or face criminal sanctions.
• The Law Commission concluded that creating a specific deepfake offence is not necessary and could pose risks like overcriminalisation.
• Amendment 48 in schedule 2 of the Criminal Justice Bill proposes inserting a new section into the Armed Forces Act 2006.
• Section 177DA would apply to offences under section 42, relating to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sections 66AA(1), (2) or (3)).
• The amendment is intended to make provisions equivalent to paragraph 19(2) of Schedule 2 to the Bill.
• Amendments extend legal measures to service police and justice system of armed forces.
• Clause 14 expands identification doctrine for corporate liability to all crimes, not just economic offences.
• The Post Office/Horizon scandal is referenced as an example of the importance of holding entities accountable.
• Letter from Ministers Philp and Farris re: Criminal Justice Bill: Government Amendments for Committee, dated 19 December 2023.
• Supplementary European Convention on Human Rights Memorandum by the Home Office.
• Supplementary Delegated Powers Memorandum by the Home Office.
• Letter from Ministers Philp and Farris re: Criminal Justice Bill: Government Amendments for Committee, dated 9 January 2024.