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Child destruction is the name of a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Hong Kong. The offence of that name has been abolished and replaced in Victoria, Australia. Child destruction is the crime of killing an unborn but viable foetus; that is, a child "capable of being born alive", before it has "a separate existence".〔 〕 People have been convicted of the offence for injuring a heavily pregnant woman in the abdomen, such that her foetus dies; for killing a foetus during childbirth; or for performing a late-term abortion. The purpose of the offence is to criminalise the killing of a child during its birth, because this is neither abortion〔That is to say, the offence of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, contrary to section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which is defined as "unlawful procurement of a miscarriage."〕 nor homicide〔That is to say, the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide.〕 for the purposes of the criminal law. It can also be used to prosecute late abortions.〔Card, Richard (editor). Card, Cross and Jones: Criminal Law. Twelfth Edition. Butterworths. 1992. ISBN 0-406-00086-7. ¶¶11.82–83.〕 During the second reading of the Preservation of Infant Life Bill 1928 to 1929, Lord Atkin said: ==England and Wales== ;Statute In England and Wales, the offence is created by section 1(1) of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929: ;"Capable of being born alive" See C v S () QB 135, () 2 WLR 1108, () 1 All ER 1230, () 2 FLR 505, (1987) 17 Fam Law 269, CA (Civ Div) In Rance v Mid-Downs Health Authority,〔Rance v Mid-Downs Health Authority () 1 QB 587, () 2 WLR 159, () 1 All ER 801, QBD〕 Brooke J said that a child is "born alive" if "after birth, it exists as a live child, that is to say breathing and living by reason of its breathing through its own lungs alone, without deriving any of its living or power of living by or through any connection with its mother." As originally enacted, section 5(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 described the provisions of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 as "protecting the life of the viable foetus".〔(Digitised copy ) of the original print of the Abortion Act 1967.〕 It was held that this had no effect on the meaning of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The suggestion that "viable" had a narrower meaning than "capable of being born alive" was rejected.〔Rance v Mid-Downs Health Authority () 1 QB 587, () 2 WLR 159, () 1 All ER 801, QBD.〕 David Ormerod said that the definition of "born alive" given in Rance v Mid-Downs Health Authority is not of universal application and that an example of a case where it was not applicable was Re A (Children),〔(Re A (Children) ) () 2 WLR 480, () 4 All ER 961, () Crim LR 400〕 where a conjoined twin who never drew breath was considered to have been born alive.〔David Ormerod. Smith and Hogan's Criminal Law. Thirteenth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2011. Page 603〕 The period of 28 weeks' gestation was later reduced to 24 weeks.〔 ;"Felony" See the Criminal Law Act 1967. ;"Penal servitude" The reference to a sentence of penal servitude must be construed as a reference to a sentence of imprisonment: The Criminal Justice Act 1948, section 1(1). ;Defence A registered medical practitioner who terminates a pregnancy in accordance with the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 does not commit this offence.〔The Abortion Act 1967, section 5(1) (substituted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, (section 37(4 )))〕 ;Mode of trial Child destruction is an indictable-only offence.〔Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice, 1999 Edition, paragraph 19-133〕 ;Sentence Child destruction is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.〔The Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, section 1(1); the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo.6 c.58), section 1(1)〕 ;Early release of prisoners Child destruction is an "excluded offence" for the purposes of section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982.〔The Criminal Justice Act 1982, (section 32(2)(b) ) and (paragraph 10 ) of Part II of Schedule 1〕 ;History Before 1 April 1991, section 5(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 provided that nothing in that Act affected the provisions of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. That section was substituted by section 37(4) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Child destruction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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