A/HRC/7/10/Add.3 page 15 harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation, provide for an exception to organizations relating to religion and belief. Thus it is not unlawful for such an organization to restrict membership, participation in activities, the provision of goods, services or activities, or the use or disposal of premises on the ground of sexual orientation if this is necessary to comply with the doctrine of the organization or in order to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers. The regulations for Northern Ireland, which came into force on 1 January 2007, however, do not extend the exception to organizations whose sole or main purpose is commercial or to those who act under a contract with and on behalf of a public authority. Similar regulations for the rest of the United Kingdom are in force since 30 April 2007, but the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 in Great Britain do not contain harassment clauses as the corresponding regulations for Northern Ireland. These harassment provisions have been subject to judicial review and the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland decided on 11 September 2007 to quash them, inter alia, because the width and vagueness of the definition of harassment gave rise to a risk of incompatibility with both freedom of speech and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.7 6. Provisions on offences related to religions 49. Under the common law in England and Wales it is a strict liability offence to utter or publish blasphemous words and writings, but the scope of that offence has been narrowed in the last 150 years. The last conviction in England and Wales for blasphemous libel was upheld in 1979. However, the British Board of Film Classification in 1989 refused to issue a video classification certificate to a short film on the grounds that it infringed the law of blasphemy. Following the controversy over Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses, the Divisional Court confirmed in 1991 that the offence of blasphemy remained confined to protect only the Christian religion as exemplified by the established Church of England. In April 2007, the High Court allowed a legal challenge brought by a Christian group against a magistrate’s decision not to issue a private prosecution for blasphemy over the musical Jerry Springer - The Opera which was also broadcast on television. However, on 5 December 2007 the High Court found that criminal prosecutions for blasphemy should not be permitted in relation to broadcasts and live theatrical productions. 50. In Scotland, the last reported prosecution for blasphemy was in 1843 and it has been argued that blasphemy may no longer be a crime in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, which inherited the blasphemy offence of Irish common law, there has to date been no prosecution for blasphemy. 51. In recent years, there have been debates both in Parliament and in society at large whether the existing religious offences should be amended or abolished. As alternative options to the current common laws of blasphemy and blasphemous libel it has been suggested to either replace them with a new statute protecting all religious faiths and beliefs or to repeal them without 7 High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, Queen’s Bench Division, (2007) NIQB 66, paras. 40-43.