Join ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.

Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!

Section 44 or Section 58A will not stop people taking photographs says minister

Posted: 10 Mar 2010

Photography is allowed says MP - Policing and crime minister makes statement regarding stop and search powers.

Yesterday, policing and crime minister David Hanson MP met with the parliamentary all party photography group and others to discuss the issue of counter terrorism powers and offences in relation to photography. Mr Hanson said that anti-terrorism legislation should not be used to stop photojournalists and members of the public from taking photographs and as a result, the police have been given guidance to that effect.

Following the meeting, Mr Hanson said:

"I recently met with Austin Mitchell MP, members of the Parliamentary All Party Photography Group and representatives of the photographic press and the Royal Photographic Society to discuss the issue of counter terrorism powers and offences in relation to photography.

I welcomed the opportunity to reassure all those concerned with this issue that we have no intention of Section 44 or Section 58A being used to stop ordinary people taking photos or to curtail legitimate journalistic activity.

Guidance has been provided to all police forces advising that these powers and offences should not be used to stop innocent member of the public, tourists or responsible journalists from taking photographs.

These powers and offences are intended to help protect the public and those on the front line of our counter terrorism operations from terrorist attack. For the 58A offence to be committed, the information is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

I have committed to writing to Austin Mitchell MP to reinforce this message and to follow-up on the representations made."

<< Páramo Torres Overlayering Range

Amateur Photographers visit the House of Lords >>

Liked it? Share it!

What to do Next?

Related News

Join ePHOTOzine and remove these ads.

Comments

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 - 20:17

ecowarrior England

Very decent of them to allow photography to continue, I say....

Quote this post ·

Report Comment

[CLOSE] MikeRC

Mike Crowther

Portfolio | About

I'm retired, very very young,(grin) I have been a member of The Wakefield Camera Club for some 12 months now and sadly I still have much to learn. I ride a bike and like to combine this with taking photos so it generally takes me some time to get anywhere. Idealy I ...

Posted: 12 Mar 2010 - 17:43

MikeRC (e2 Member) View Mini Bio

Quote:
I welcomed the opportunity to reassure all those concerned with this issue that we have no intention of Section 44 or Section 58A being used to stop ordinary people taking photos or to curtail legitimate journalistic activity.

...yea right...can we take that as gospel then ?

Quote this post ·

Report Comment

[CLOSE] chensuriashi

ian hatcher

Portfolio | About

Hi thanks for looking in on my efforts, varied as they are, looking forward to new areas in photography soon. Kind regards to all. Chensuriashi.

Posted: 20 Mar 2010 - 14:23

chensuriashi (e2 Member) View Mini Bio

And what about the bloke who was called a pervert when taking pictures of his son in the park, even the man who feeds the birds in the park, camera shy, got cross, complexed, did not want his photo taken by his feeding places...
All gone pervert mad I say, the population is camera shy, and camera sensitive, all fueled by bad publicity in the media.. but... so many compacts out on a saturday night, and phones that shoot 12MPIX shots...that can predict the winning numbers... quite closely, on Roulette these days....It is a brave new world, we need some sort of national news feature or a TV program dedicated to Togs, to help put us in a more friendly image, excuse the pun there, a boost to the retail business too to help bring prices down a little. Chen.

Quote this post ·

Report Comment