Cap. 9 Art. 208ENon-consensual taking or disclosure of private sexual photographsand films.

(1) Whosoever, with an intent to cause distress, emotional harm or harm of any nature, takes or discloses a private sexual photograph or film without the consent of the person or persons displayed or depicted in such photograph or film shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term of up to five years or to a fine (multa) of not less than four thousand euro (€4,000) and not more than eight thousand euro (€8,000), or to both such imprisonment and fine.

(2) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this article if:

(a) he has disclosed the sexual photograph or film where the sexual photograph or film were taken with the consent of the person or persons displayed or depicted in such photograph or film, solely to the person or persons displayed or depicted in such photograph or film; or

(b) the disclosure was necessary for the purpose of preventing, detecting or investigating a crime; or

(c) to the extent that it is reasonably required, the disclosure is authorised by a court or tribunal in the course of judicial proceedings: Provided that where authorisation is so granted by a court or tribunal, the sexual photograph or film shall, without delay, be sealed by the registrar or deputy registrar of that court or tribunal and shall only be accessible by the parties to the suit or to their authorised legal representatives.

(3) When the offence provided for in this article is committed as a means or in the context of blackmail the punishment shall be increased by one degree.

(4) In this article:

"taking" shall refer to the unauthorised taking of sexual private photos and films, by any means;

"disclosure" shall be construed as also including the publication, distribution, trade, circulation or unauthorised use of private sexual photographs and films, by any means; "private" shall refer to any photograph or film which was never intended for public consumption; "sexual" shall include the depiction of all or part of a person’s exposed genitals or pubic area, or, in the case of females, of the breasts, or of any content that, when taken as a whole, a reasonable person would consider to be sexual because of its nature;

"photograph or film" means a moving or still image or data, stored by any means, which is capable of conversion into a moving or still image.