Abortion & Child-Related

Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 provides that it is an offence for a person to attempt to procure a miscarriage. A person who unlawfully supplies or procures any poison or other noxious thing or any instrument or thing whatsoever, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used or employed with the intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether or not she is pregnant, is guilty of an offence. He or she is  subject, upon conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for up to life.

There is a defence of saving the life of the mother which has been recognised in Northern Ireland.

It is an offence to supply or procure any poison or other noxious thing or any instrument knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used or employed with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether or not she’s pregnant. The person may be convicted for up to five years upon conviction on indictment.

The Criminal Justice Act (NI 1945) provides for the offence of child destruction. Any person who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born, by wilful act caused the child to die before it has an existence independent of the mother, is guilty of an offence. They may be sentenced to life imprisonment upon conviction on indictment.

In a trial for murder or manslaughter where child destruction or infanticide is evident, the jury may, when shown by evidence that the person is guilty of the offence of child destruction, convict the person for that offence.

It is an offence to conceal the birth of a child.  Section 60 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1860 provides that if a woman delivers a child, every person who, by secret disposition of the dead body of the child, whether such child dies before or after birth, is guilty of an offence. It is triable either way.

The Infanticide Act (NI 1939) provides that where a woman, by wilful act or omission, causes the death of her own child while mentally unbalanced, she is not guilty of murder but guilty of infanticide. At the time of the act or omission, the balance of her mind must be disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effects of lactation consequent on the birth of the child. The offence of infanticide is dealt with in the same way as manslaughter. On a charge of infanticide, the accused may be convicted of child destruction.

The Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 applies to Northern Ireland. The Act  creates an offence of causing the death of a child or a vulnerable adult by means of an unlawful act.

The offence is committed where the child or vulnerable adult is a member of the same household as the person whose unlawful act caused the death and had frequent contact with them at the time of the act.The act must have occurred in circumstances of the kind that the accused foresaw or ought to have foreseen.

There must be a significant risk of serious physical harm being caused to the child or vulnerable adult by the act, and either the person concerned caused the child or vulnerable adult’s death or was or ought to have been aware of the significant risk of serious physical harm and failed to take such steps as they reasonably could have been expected to take to protect the child or vulnerable adult under risk.

A child means a person under 16 years of age. A vulnerable adult is a person over 60 whose ability to protect themselves from violent abuse and neglect is significantly impaired due to physical or mental disability, illness, old age, or other reasons.

An unlawful act can include an omission. The person may be a member of the same household provided they visit often and for such periods of time that they may be regarded as part of it. Serious physical harm means grievous bodily harm.

The offence is subject to conviction on indictment for up to 14 years.