R v Penguin Books Ltd

R v Penguin Books Ltd^[a] (also known as The Lady Chatterley Trial), was the public prosecution in the United Kingdom of Penguin Books under the Obscene Publications Act 1959^[b] for the publication of D. H. Lawrence's 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover. The trial took place over six days, in No 1 court of the Old Bailey, between 20 October and 2 November 1960 with Mervyn Griffith-Jones^[c] prosecuting, Gerald Gardiner counsel for the defence^[d] and Laurence Byrne presiding. The trial was a test case of the defence of public good provision under section 4 of the Act which was defined as a work "in the interests of science, literature, art or learning, or of other objects of general concern".

Courtroom diagram by Hans Schmoller from the October to November 1960 Lady Chatterley trial at the Old Bailey in London

The jury found for the defendant in a result that ushered in the liberalisation of publishing, and which some saw as the beginning of the permissive society in Britain.^[2]

^ Rolph, 1961, p.35
^ Feather, John. A History Of British Publishing. p. 205.

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[1] Rolph, 1961, p.35

[6] Feather, John. A History Of British Publishing. p. 205.

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