The Government proposes a new scheme, Exploitation Proceeds Orders (EPOs), to seize any proceeds an ex-offender may make from describing their crimes. The Government refers to ‘Criminal Memoirs’, but “in fact the proposed measures refer to any type of art or media participation”.
According to the English PEN, “writing by ex-criminals will be subject to permenant scrutiny. Art with a genuine public interest could be threaten by populist campaigns, while vindictive glorification of crime would still be possible”.
As the NGO stated in the brifieng document, “the new law would allow assets to be seized ahead of publication or broadcast.
The degree to which the public is “offended” is a trigger for seizure.
This leaves the law vulnerable to populist campaigns against ex-criminals who have completed their sentence.
The public interest test is given no priority in the Bill. It must be weighed against “the extent to which … the public are offended”, meaning that memoirs of clear public value could still be affected.
The law will not be effective against the worst cases. It does not prevent publication where where no payment has been made, so malicious glorification of crimes would still be possible.
The law misses its target. Payments to ex-criminals often occur through constructive and rehabilitative work in the public interest. The new law would subject such art to permanent, constant scrutiny.
A great deal of literature and other art meets the criteria for EPOs. Ministers argue that common sense will prevail and seizure orders will not be pursued in all but the most extreme cases.
This is an insufficient safeguard against abuse, especially when other laws that curb civil liberties have been misused in recent years.
The Government can cite very few examples of the type of publication they wish to prevent.
English PEN is calling on the Government to withdraw the proposed new law from the Coroners & Justice Bill, and to consult with prisoner groups and rehabilitation charities”.
