http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/schedule/13Coroners and Justice Act 2009An Act to amend the law relating to coroners, to investigation of deaths and to certification and registration of deaths; to amend the criminal law; to make provision about criminal justice and about dealing with offenders; to make provision about the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses; to make provision relating to the security of court and other buildings; to make provision about legal aid and about payments for legal services provided in connection with employment matters; to make provision for payments to be made by offenders in respect of benefits derived from the exploitation of material pertaining to offences; to amend the Data Protection Act 1998; and for connected purposes.texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2026-03-23Expert Participation2026-03-22 Coroners and Justice Act 2009s. 31ACrime and Policing Act 2026s. 247(1)s. 255(1) Schedule 13Section 681. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31A service provider is not capable of being guilty of an offence under section 62(1) in respect of anything done in the course of providing so much of an information society service as consists in—athe provision of access to a communication network, orbthe transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service,if the condition in sub-paragraph (2) is satisfied.2The condition is that the service provider does not—ainitiate the transmission,bselect the recipient of the transmission, orcselect or modify the information contained in the transmission.3For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)—athe provision of access to a communication network, andbthe transmission of information in a communication network,includes the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the information transmitted so far as the storage is solely for the purpose of carrying out the transmission in the network.4Sub-paragraph (3) does not apply if the information is stored for longer than is reasonably necessary for the transmission.41This paragraph applies where an information society service consists in the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service.2The service provider is not capable of being guilty of an offence under section 62(1) in respect of the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of information so provided, if—athe storage of the information is solely for the purpose of making more efficient the onward transmission of the information to other recipients of the service at their request, andbthe condition in sub-paragraph (3) is satisfied.3The condition is that the service provider—adoes not modify the information,bcomplies with any conditions attached to having access to the information, andc(where sub-paragraph (4) applies) expeditiously removes the information or disables access to it.4This sub-paragraph applies if the service provider obtains actual knowledge that—athe information at the initial source of the transmission has been removed from the network,baccess to it has been disabled, orca court or administrative authority has ordered the removal from the network of, or the disablement of access to, the information.51A service provider is not capable of being guilty of an offence under section 62(1) in respect of anything done in the course of providing so much of an information society service as consists in the storage of information provided by a recipient of the service if—athe service provider had no actual knowledge when the information was provided that it contained offending material, orbon obtaining actual knowledge that the information contained offending material, the service provider expeditiously removed the information or disabled access to it.2“Offending material” means material the possession of which constitutes an offence under section 62(1).3Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply if the recipient of the service is acting under the authority or control of the service provider.61This paragraph applies for the purposes of this Schedule.2“Prohibited image of a child” has the same meaning as in section 62.3“Information society services”—ahas the meaning given in Article 2(a) of the E-Commerce Directive (which refers to Article 1(2) of Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations), andbis summarised in recital 17 of the E-Commerce Directive as covering “any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by means of electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and at the individual request of a recipient of a service”;and “the E-Commerce Directive” means Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce).4“Recipient”, in relation to a service, means any person who, for professional ends or otherwise, uses an information society service, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible.5“Service provider” means a person providing an information society service.6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sch. 13 para. 3 in force at 6.4.2010 by S.I. 2010/816, art. 2, Sch. para. 16Sch. 13 para. 4 in force at 6.4.2010 by S.I. 2010/816, art. 2, Sch. para. 16Sch. 13 para. 5 in force at 6.4.2010 by S.I. 2010/816, art. 2, Sch. para. 16Sch. 13 para. 6 in force at 6.4.2010 by S.I. 2010/816, art. 2, Sch. para. 16Sch. 13 para. 1 omitted (29.7.2021) by virtue of The Criminal Justice (Electronic Commerce) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/835), regs. 1, 7(2)(a)Sch. 13 para. 2 omitted (29.7.2021) by virtue of The Criminal Justice (Electronic Commerce) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/835), regs. 1, 7(2)(b)Sch. 13 para. 6(6) omitted (29.7.2021) by virtue of The Criminal Justice (Electronic Commerce) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/835), regs. 1, 7(2)(c)