Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

Power to Prohibit Importation of Publications

5.   Power to declare prohibited publication

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   (1)   If the Governor General is of the opinion that there is in any publication or series of publications published outside Saint Lucia by any person or association of persons any matter which is contrary to the public interest, he or she may by order published in the Gazette and in such local newspaper as he or she may consider necessary, declare that that particular publication or series of publications, or all publications published by that person or association of persons, shall be a prohibited publication or prohibited publications as the case may be.

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   (2)   If an order made under the provisions of subsection (1) specifies by name a publication which is a periodical publication, such order shall, unless a contrary intention be expressed therein, have effect—

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      (a)     with respect to all subsequent issues of such publication; and

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      (b)     not only with respect to any publication under that name but also with respect to any publication published under any other name if the publishing thereof is in respect of a continuation of, or in substitution for, the publishing of the publication named in the order.

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   (3)   If an order made under the provisions of subsection (1) declares that all publications published by a specified person or association of persons shall be prohibited publications, such order shall, unless a contrary intention be expressed therein, have effect not only with respect to all publications published by that person or association of persons before the date of the order but also with respect to all publications so published on or after that date.

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   (4)   An order made under the provisions of subsection (1) shall, unless a contrary intention is expressed therein, apply to any translation into any language whatsoever of the publications specified in the order.

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   (5)   Where an order has been made under the provisions of subsection (1) declaring any series of publications or all publications published by any person or association of persons to be prohibited publications or specifying by name a publication which is a periodical publication, any person who wishes to import into Saint Lucia any particular publication in that series or published by that person or association or being a publication with respect to which the order is required by subsections (2) and (3) to have effect may apply to the Governor General for a permit in that behalf and, unless the Governor General is satisfied that the publication contains matter which is contrary to the public interest, he or she shall grant such a permit and the order shall thereupon cease to have effect with respect to that publication.

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   (6)   If any person imports, prints, publishes, copies, reproduces, or has in his or her possession, power or control, any publication of which the importation is prohibited by an order made under this section, he or she commits an offence, and the publication shall be forfeited to Her Majesty.

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   (7)   A person shall not be convicted under this section if—

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      (a)     a publication of which the importation is prohibited by an order made under this section is in his or her possession when the order takes effect, or is sent to him or her without his or her knowledge or privity or in the execution of an order given before the order under this section takes effect and as soon as reasonably possible he or she delivers the publication to a police officer; or

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      (b)     he or she has in his or her possession, power or control a publication of which the importation is prohibited by an order under this section without knowing or having reason to suspect the nature of such publication and on ascertaining that it is a publication of which the importation is prohibited by an order under this section, he or she delivers such publication to a police officer as soon as possible.

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   (8)   The Postmaster General may detain any postal packet suspected to contain a prohibited publication, and may open and examine the packet, and any such publication found on such examination shall be forfeited and may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the Governor General may direct.

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   (Substituted by Act 18 of 1965)