R (ProLife Alliance) v. BBC
Encyclopedia
R v. BBC was a House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 case concerning the extent to which matters of good taste and decency are sufficient to justify the censorship of a Public Election Broadcast. The ProLife Alliance submitted a video that showed the results of an abortion. The video was held to violate statutory regulations requiring public broadcast to be decent. After extensive legal proceedings, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the ProLife Alliance. However, the decision was overturned by the House of Lords.

Facts

The ProLife Alliance is a political party that campaigns for "absolute respect for innocent human life from fertilisation until natural death and therefore opposes abortion, euthanasia, destructive embryo research and human cloning." (Paragraph 2 of the Court of Appeal judgment)

In 1997, the ProLife Alliance had enough support to be granted a Public Election Broadcast (PEB), subject to rules set out by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Electoral Commission. The ProLife Alliance submitted a video that was graphic in nature. The video, the HL said, showed "the products of a suction abortion: tiny limbs, bloodied and dismembered, a separated head, their human shape and form plainly recognisable. There are some pictures showing the results of the procedures undertaken to procure an abortion at later stages... They are, I think, certainly disturbing to any person of ordinary sensibilities."

The broadcasters declined to show the video, on the grounds that it could have been offensive or disturbing to a large number of viewers. The ProLife Alliance sought permission for judicial review of their decision, which was refused. "A further application to the Court of Appeal was also refused. The appellant applied to the European Court of Human Rights, alleging a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). The application was declared inadmissible without the United Kingdom government being called on to put in observations." (Para. 7)

The Law

The Broadcasting Act 1990
Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...

 makes the following provisions:
And, in section 36:
The following provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1996 are also important:

Court of Appeal ruling

The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the ProLife Alliance
ProLife Alliance
ProLife Alliance is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom, formed in October 1996. It is opposed to human cloning and abortion, opposes experiments on human embryos and also opposes any form of euthanasia. It supports anti-abortion taxation policies and guaranteed maternity and paternity leave...

 by stating that the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 had acted unfairly in denying them one election broadcast in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.
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