R v McDonald
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1999 |
| Date | 01 January 1999 |
| Court | Crown Court (Northern Ireland) |
- Indictment - Whether alternative count of procuring miscarriage should be added to indictment - Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland), 1945, s. 26 (2).
On its true construction, s. 25 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland), 1945, extends the protection of the law to the unborn child not only at the actual moment of birth but also during the period when it is still in the womb, provided that the child is capable of being born alive. Where the accused's intentional act has caused the death of an unborn child, the crime of child destruction will be made out if the Crown has established beyond reasonable doubt that the child or foetus destroyed by that act had a real chance of being born alive. The jury should be directed that the Crown must satisfy them beyond reasonable doubt that the foetus was capable of being born alive, and that in this context (1) "capable of being born alive" means that the child, at the point immediately before the accused's act destroyed its existence, had the real chance of being born and of existing as a live child, that is to say breathing and living by reason of its breathing through its lungs (either naturally or with the aid of a ventilator) alone without deriving any of its living or power of living by or through any connection with the mother; and (2) the Crown does not have to prove that the child would have lived for any particular period of...
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Society for the Protection of Unborn Children’s Application
...Inadequate guidance on when a child is capable of being born alive [17] The relevant law in this field is set out in R v McDonald [1999] NI 150 which is itself referred to in the Annex. Section 1.1 of the Guidance refers to the relevant section of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland)......
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R. v. Levkovic (I.), [2008] O.T.C. Uned. K11
...of development "and so is incapable ever of breathing ...naturally or with the aid of a ventilator". [185] In R. v. McDonald , [1999] N.I. 150 (Crown Ct. ), the court also interpreted capable of being born alive as only requiring proof that the child would have lived, even for onl......
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In the matter for Baby L
...any connection with its mother.” [22] Girvan LJ clarified the meaning of the expression “capable of being born alive” in R v McDonald [1999] NI 150. This was in the context of the judge’s direction to the jury concerning criminal offence of child destruction. The references to the criminal ......