Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why the practice of up-skirting is treated as a public nuisance behaviour; and what consideration they have given to the case for characterising it as a sexual offence.

Depending on the individual circumstances and evidence available in each case, the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether a prosecution should proceed and if so which specific offence should be charged.

Upskirting has been successfully prosecuted under a range of existing criminal offences including the common law offence of outraging public decency. That offence carries an unlimited prison sentence.

The Minister of State for Justice has asked for detailed advice on this issue before considering the case for a change in legislation.