Update to UK law about nudism.

[Harold]

The Legal team at BN in the UK have met with Board of The Police College and have agreed to updated its briefing notes to all officers and is disseminating the material internally with effect from 10th April 2018.


There is no designation of places for Naturism
Section 66 of The Sexual Offences Act does not apply
Section 5 of The Public Order Act does not apply.
Section 4A POA will address intentional behaviours directed towards victims by use of genitalia.

Further,
There are no by-laws that can be applicable to Naturism
A 2015 case accepted that Naturism was not a behaviour and not disorderly
The Naked Carpenter case showed that Section 5 Public Order Act could never apply (if cases were competently defended)
Section 66 Sexual Offences cannot apply as there is no sexual context nor any intent

I hope this information helps some people out.

Harold

[Nudielad]

Erm, link? the COP have not published anything on their site as far as I am aware?

[Harold]

Erm, link? the COP have not published anything on their site as far as I am aware?

Here is the BN link.  https://www.bn.org.uk/forums/topic/18512-policing-naturism-2018-onwards/   

[Nudielad]

Not a member so cannot see the contents. The COP certainly have not distributed guidelines out to any officer regarding this.

I could arrest a person under Section 5 all day long for being naked in a public place, points to prove are all there. Sexual offences act wouldn't stand up for simply being naked and Section 4 is the immediate threat of violence so I have no idea why that would even appear in that discussion?

In terms of bye laws maybe no public bye laws but railway byelaws almost certainly!

The 'naked carpenter' now he never got prosecuted because he was on private property and not in a public space, Section 5 POA would never cover that offence in fact it's a unlawful arrest.   

[Harold]

I am only relaying the information posted on the BN website.

 http://library.college.police.uk/docs/nudity.pdf  There is a link that is in the post. i hope this sheds some more information on the subject.

[Nudielad]

I'm not having a go at you don't worry, I know you can only go off what you've read. It's just bad advice which they seem to have posted is all 

[Harold]

Haha i know i am sorry if that came over moody, that was not my intent. they only post this yesterday so i dont know if it may take some time ?

[NemoBond]

I am only relaying the information posted on the BN website.

 http://library.college.police.uk/docs/nudity.pdf  There is a link that is in the post. i hope this sheds some more information on the subject.

That is an interesting little PDF, I live in Gibraltar where it is illegal full stop, but I get to practice my naturism in Spain where it is widely accepted and actually considered a human right,

[Harold]

@Nudielad have you managed to look at the PDF ? has that cleared some stuff up ? i asked the legal team at BN and they have said that they have revived confirmation from COP that they new guidelines have been given out.

[Nudielad]

I have read it and I can say I have never seen this document before in my life and neither have any of my colleagues for that matter. It's a pretty common sense document, nothing new in there just reinforcing points we should already know really. 

Advice to my fellow UK members. DO NOT to go about your daily shopping and what not in the buff! Not all officers are as easy going as I am and more than likely will not see the funny side not agree with your lifestyle choice. You will spend a few hours in the cells for your troubles until they decide what to do with you... 

[Harold]

Awesome. a good step in the right direction though ?

[Nudielad]

I don't think this changes anything. The laws are quite clear cut on dealing with this issue in particular, I think the issue they are trying to address by releasing this document is the application of the law and how frontline officers and call takers should deal with such a situation.

A few cases have shown that the law was implied incorrectly. The problem lies with each officers interpretation of the law for example, my interpretation of Section 5 POA might be different to my colleague, he/she may arrest for the offence but I may not.

BN clearly have intentions for the best speaking to the COP but I seriously doubt that it will have any major impact on how an officer deals with this sort of situation. It's a step in the right direction but it will fall on deaf ears. I think if you want to be a naturist in the UK you have to use a bit common sense in order to not fall foul of the law.