Legal sector news

Legal loophole for over-18 DVDs

28/8/2009
A legal blunder 25 years ago means that retailers who sell violent video games and 18-rated DVDs to children cannot be prosecuted.

In 1984 Margaret Thatcher's government brought in the Video Recordings Act which made it illegal to sell violent video games and adult films to children. Dozens of prosecutions under the Act have been dropped because the government of the day failed to notify the European Commission about the law.

The loophole means no-one can be prosecuted until the law is passed again and that will take three months. Culture Media and Sport Minister Barbara Follett has reassured the public that previous prosecutions will stand.

Barbara Follett has written to industry bodies to inform them the act is no longer enforceable. She asked them to handle the situation with 'care and sensitivity' to ensure that minimal advantage is taken of the loophole.

The Liberal Democrat's culture spokesman Don Foster said: "This must be a massive embarrassment to the Tories, especially as David Cameron was the special adviser to the home secretary in 1993 when the law was amended." But the shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was outrageous that such an error could go unnoticed by the Labour government for so many years.