Blasphemy law in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Section 123[1] of the Crimes Act 1961 allows for imprisonment up to one year for anyone who publishes any "blasphemous libel". Prosecution may proceed only with the leave of the Attorney-General.

To date the only prosecution for blasphemous libel in New Zealand has been the case of John Glover, publisher of the newspaper The Maoriland Worker in 1922.[2] The Crown laid a charge of blasphemous libel over the 12 October 1921 issue of The Maoriland Worker which included two poems by British poet Siegfried Sassoon. The alleged blasphemy was the closing lines of Sassoon's poem 'Stand-to: Good Friday Morning':

O Jesus, send me a wound to-day,
And I'll believe in Your bread and wine,
And get my bloody old sins washed white!

The case was tried in the Supreme Court in 1922. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty with a rider: "That similar publications of such literature be discouraged".

In 1998, the Crown decided not to prosecute Te Papa museum for displaying Tania Kovats' Virgin in a Condom.[3] In 2006, the Crown decided not to pursue blasphemy charges against CanWest, a broadcaster, for airing an episode of South Park featuring a menstruating Virgin Mary statue.

Rather than complaining of blasphemy, a New Zealander can complain of hate speech. Hate speech in New Zealand is prohibited by the Human Rights Act 1993.

See also

References

  1. ^ Crimes Act 1961 - Section 123
  2. ^ Geoffrey Troughton (November 2006). "The Maoriland Worker and Blasphemy in New Zealand". History Cooperative. http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lab/91/troughton.html. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
  3. ^ http://www.caslon.com.au/blasphemyprofile5.htm
Blasphemy law by country