Restoring open democracy : the law of obscenity and freedom of expression in the 21st century

Abstract

This thesis examines the nature of the laws proscribing obscenity, pornography and indecency, as well as other laws aimed at protecting the public morality, and their application to works of art and/or the artists and publishers that produce or distribute them. It argues that such laws are so archaic, vague and open-ended that they represent a danger to human enlightenment, democracy and an affront to freedom of expression, such as the criminalisation of art and artists, merely for expressing views that may be shocking and offensive to some or which do not conform to the moral or aesthetic values of the adjudicator. This is especially the case in the 21st century, where society is said to have moved on from the set of moral values that guided it in the past and is mature enough to make its own choices without state regulation. It concludes by presenting an argument for reform and examines various avenues on how the law could be strengthened to ensure that artistic liberty and the basic democratic principles of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness are restored.