Canada's top court says porn import restrictions okay

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that restrictions on importing hard-core pornography, including homosexual erotica, were constitutionally legitimate infringements on freedom of expression.

But it also declared that Canada Customs officials had unfairly targeted homosexual pornography as opposed to heterosexual material, and it struck down one section of the Customs Act to put the onus of proof on the government, not the importer.

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In a 6-3 decision, the court rejected the position of the Vancouver gay and lesbian bookstore that brought the case that homosexual pornography should have a special exemption from the restrictions.

"Parliament's legislative objective, which is to prevent Canada from being inundated with obscene material from abroad, is pressing and substantial, and Customs procedures are rationally connected to that objective," the court ruled.

Janine Fuller, manager of the store, Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, had said as the case was being heard in March that pornography was more important to gays.

"It is extremely important to our community, as well as affirming who and what we are," she said at the time.

The U.S. women's rights group Equality Now had argued that violent or degrading material should be banned, regardless of the sexual orientation.

Its written submission to the court had detailed material that Customs had stopped Little Sister's from importing -- including a magazine showing women hung from chains, their nipples compressed in clamps, being whipped by other women.

It also pointed to incest and assaults on children, with titles like "An Enema from his Father."

Writers groups had argued that special provisions must be made to protect freedom of expression, while the federal government, backed by provincial governments, said this case was not about banning books.

The three-member court minority advocated that the applicable customs legislation be struck down in its entirety on the grounds that it has resulted in "an appalling level of over-censorship."

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