Amendment
of Ordinance
No. 9 of
1899
by addition
of new
s. 77A.
Conviction for infan- ticide in
12 & 13 Geo.
866
3. The Criminal Procedure Ordinance, 1899, is amended by the insertion of the following section, numbered 77A, immediately after section 77 thereof :----
77A. (1) Where a woman by any wilful act or omission causes the death of her newly-born child, but at the time of certain cases. the act or omission she had not fully recovered from the effect 5, c. 18, s. 1. of giving birth to such child, and by reason thereof the balance of her mind was then disturbed, she shall, notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that but for the provisions of this section the offence would have amounted to murder, be guilty of felony, to wit of infanticide, and may for such offence be dealt with and punished as if she had been guilty of the offence of manslaughter of such child.
Ordinance No. 2 of 1865.
Ordinance No. 2 of 1865.
(2) Where upon the trial of a woman for the murder of her newly-born child, the jury are of opinion that she by any wilful act or omission caused its death, but that at the time of the act or omission she had not fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to such child, and that by reason thereof the balance of her mind was then disturbed, the jury may, notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that but for the provisions of this section they might have returned a verdict of murder, return in lieu thereof a verdict of infan- ticide.
(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the power of the jury upon an indictment for the murder of a newly-born child to return a verdict of manslaughter, or a verdict of guilty but insane, or a verdict of concealment of birth in pursuance of section 49 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance, 1865.
(4) The said section 49 shall also apply in the case of the acquittal of a woman upon indictment for infanticide as it applies upon the acquittal of a woman for murder, and upon. the trial of any person over the age of sixteen for infanticide it shall be lawful for the jury, if they are satisfied that the accused is guilty of an offence under section 26A of the offences against the Person Ordinance, 1865, to find the ac- cused guilty of such an offence, and in that case that section shall apply accordingly.
Objects and Reasons.
1. The substituted section 77 and the new section 77A to be incorporated by this Bill in the Criminal Procedure Ordin- ance, 1899, introduce in Hong Kong, on directions from the Secretary of State, the main provisions of the Infanticide Act, 1922, and the Sentence of Death (Expectant Mothers) Act, 1931. The former of these Acts established infanticide in certain circumstances as a special form of homicide, punishable as manslaughter, while the latter prohibits sentence of death on any pregnant woman convicted of a capital offence, sub- stitutes therefor a sentence of imprisonment for life, and lays down the special procedure by which the question of alleged or suspected pregnancy is to be inquired into and determined.