Fraudulent Mediums Act
Moderators: eye_of_tiger, shalimar123
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:37 pm
- Contact:
Fraudulent Mediums Act
I have recently been told that the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 has been repealed. Does anyone know of this and what are your thoughts on the subject!!
The Fraudulent Mediums Act was a long standing issue (dating from the witch hunts of the 1700s) on the books. It was apparently repealed in 1951. I think this is a British issue, but it was also a problem in the US and Canada. It was a means of keeping Spiritualism down for a long part of its history.
- eye_of_tiger
- Site Admin
- Posts: 8490
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:47 am
- Location: Adelaide, South Australia
- Contact:
Hello Hilary,
To the best of my knowledge the Fraudulent Medium's Act of 1951 has not yet been repealed in the United Kingdom.
It was the Witchcraft Act of 1541 and later 1735 which were repealed in order to make way for the Fraudulent Medium's Act of 1951. Mainly as a result of a legal issue to be able to more humanely prosecute Helen Duncan. Helen Duncan (November 25, 1897 – December 6, 1956) was a Scottish medium, best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Duncan
There is a petition on the following site to force the Minister to revise the Fraudulent Medium's Act by giving it more teeth, not to completely repeal or replace it.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/mediums/
Deadline to sign up by: 21 September 2007 – Signatures: 272
Also see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraudulent ... s_Act_1951
Hoping this makes things a little clearer,
eye_of_tiger
To the best of my knowledge the Fraudulent Medium's Act of 1951 has not yet been repealed in the United Kingdom.
It was the Witchcraft Act of 1541 and later 1735 which were repealed in order to make way for the Fraudulent Medium's Act of 1951. Mainly as a result of a legal issue to be able to more humanely prosecute Helen Duncan. Helen Duncan (November 25, 1897 – December 6, 1956) was a Scottish medium, best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Duncan
There is a petition on the following site to force the Minister to revise the Fraudulent Medium's Act by giving it more teeth, not to completely repeal or replace it.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/mediums/
The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 has rarely been used in the prosecution of mediums and psychics, who claim to contact the dead relatives of people. Yet there are increasingly more TV shows and live acts where people claiming to be mediums and psychics prey on vulnerable people who have lost loved ones, giving them spurious information and taking their money. We call upon the Government to revise the Fraudulent Mediums Act and make it easier to prosecute these people.
Deadline to sign up by: 21 September 2007 – Signatures: 272
Also see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraudulent ... s_Act_1951
Hoping this makes things a little clearer,
eye_of_tiger
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:37 pm
- Contact:
Fraudulent Mediums Act
Thank you everybody for taking the time to answer my question.
Hi,
I very rarely if ever pop into this part of the forum but I read this thread because living in the UK it obviously has the potential to affect me a great deal. Many other countries have their own more modern laws governing the legalities of mediums and clairvoyants so please check first so you don't get into trouble
This link shows the latest statement on repealing the UK act http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13563.asp
Details of petition:
"The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 has rarely been used in the prosecution of mediums and psychics, who claim to contact the dead relatives of people. Yet there are increasingly more TV shows and live acts where people claiming to be mediums and psychics prey on vulnerable people who have lost loved ones, giving them spurious information and taking their money. We call upon the Government to revise the Fraudulent Mediums Act and make it easier to prosecute these people."
Response from The Government
The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 will be repealed from April 2008 by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007 (CPRs) which implement the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD).
The CPRs include rules prohibiting conduct which misleads the average consumer and thereby causes, or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.
Although the average consumer would arguably not be misled by a person who claims he is able to contact the dead, such conduct would still be unfair under the CPRs if it deceives the average member of (i) the group to which it is directed, or (ii) a clearly identifiable group of consumers who are particularly vulnerable to this type of practice.
Unlike the Act, there is no requirement in the CPRs to prove an "intent to deceive". This means that where practices are aimed at vulnerable consumers or average members of particular groups, it should be easier to take action against fraudulent mediums than under the Act.
The CPRs will be enforced by both civil (injunctive) action and criminal sanctions.
Further information on the UCPD and the CPRs is available on BERR's website http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/buying ... index.html
I very rarely if ever pop into this part of the forum but I read this thread because living in the UK it obviously has the potential to affect me a great deal. Many other countries have their own more modern laws governing the legalities of mediums and clairvoyants so please check first so you don't get into trouble
This link shows the latest statement on repealing the UK act http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13563.asp
Details of petition:
"The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 has rarely been used in the prosecution of mediums and psychics, who claim to contact the dead relatives of people. Yet there are increasingly more TV shows and live acts where people claiming to be mediums and psychics prey on vulnerable people who have lost loved ones, giving them spurious information and taking their money. We call upon the Government to revise the Fraudulent Mediums Act and make it easier to prosecute these people."
Response from The Government
The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 will be repealed from April 2008 by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007 (CPRs) which implement the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD).
The CPRs include rules prohibiting conduct which misleads the average consumer and thereby causes, or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.
Although the average consumer would arguably not be misled by a person who claims he is able to contact the dead, such conduct would still be unfair under the CPRs if it deceives the average member of (i) the group to which it is directed, or (ii) a clearly identifiable group of consumers who are particularly vulnerable to this type of practice.
Unlike the Act, there is no requirement in the CPRs to prove an "intent to deceive". This means that where practices are aimed at vulnerable consumers or average members of particular groups, it should be easier to take action against fraudulent mediums than under the Act.
The CPRs will be enforced by both civil (injunctive) action and criminal sanctions.
Further information on the UCPD and the CPRs is available on BERR's website http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/buying ... index.html
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests