The possession of "extreme" pornography will carry a jail term of up to three years in Scotland under new legislation, it was confirmed today.

The possession of "extreme" pornography will carry a jail term of up to three years in Scotland under new legislation, it was confirmed today.

The target of the new law will be pornography depicting rape and other "degrading" behaviour.

At present, the law in Scotland forbids only the importing and supply of extreme porn, and possession with intention to sell.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said today: "By introducing a new offence, I want to reduce the demand for these extreme images and send out a clear message that they and the people who look at them have no place in a civilised society."

The change will form part of the a wide-ranging Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill to be published next month.

The Bill will also include reforms on court procedures, community sentences, and more action against serious and organised crime.

Definition of what constitutes "extreme" porn will be set out in the Bill, the Scottish Government said.

When the proposals were originally floated last September, extreme porn was described as a "realistic depiction" of life-threatening and violent acts, rape and similar behaviour, bestiality or necrophilia.

The law is similar to legislation applying in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but will go further by covering all images of rape and - the English offence covers only violent rape.

The maximum penalty would be three years' jail.

And the maximum penalty for the existing offence of possessing with a view to selling or distributing the material would be increased from three years to five years.

But those who access images by accident on the internet will not be targeted on the legislation, which is likely to concentrate on the downloading of images rather than the simple viewing of websites.

The minister said: "In a global age, these vile images are now sadly all too available to people to view and download.

"But anyone who is considering looking at these repugnant images should be aware that by doing so they are creating a market for them."

Mr MacAskill went on: "This is not a victimless crime. There is a human cost to all of this.

"The images in question involve activities which may be criminal and could cause serious harm to those involved in making them.

"Those who seek to find pleasure from other people's pain and exploitation will find themselves prosecuted and punished."