The Assizes
| Date | 01 April 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836102500203 |
| Published date | 01 April 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The Assizes
MANSLAUGHTER AND CRIMINAL ABORTION
R. v. Buck
AT
this trial at Leeds assizes
Edmund
Davies, J. gave an
r\..important
rulingon the circumstancesin which death result-
ing from an act of criminal abortionwillconstitutemanslaughter
(44 Cr. App. R. 213).
The
case for the Crown was that a
woman had died as a result of a criminal abortion performed
on her by the female prisoner, and
that
the male prisoner had
counselled and procured the abortion. At
the
close of
the
case
for
the
prosecution it was submitted by defending counsel
that
there was no case to go to
the
jury.
He
submitted
that
it
was no longer
the
law
that
death resulting from an unlawful
act, even though the unlawful act be a felony, is necessarily
manslaughter,
the
law having been finally altered by
the
decision in Andrews v. Director
of
Public Prosecutions (1937
A.C. 576) which shifted the whole emphasis from
the
unlaw-
fulness of the act to the idea of criminal negligence.
This
submission was rejected by
Edmund
Davies,
J.,
who indicated
his reasons.
The
case of Andrews was concerned with alleged man-
slaughter as a result of negligent or reckless driving of a
motor vehicle on a road.
The
pre-eminent fact in
that
case
was
that
death had arisen from an act of negligence. Defend-
ing counsel in R. v. Buck said
that
Andrews decided
that
the
mere fact
that
death resulted from an unlawful act no longer
necessitates averdict of manslaughter.
"I
think
the
answer to
that",
said
Edmund
Davies,
J.,
"is
that
one has to have regard
to what is the nature of the unlawful act charged.
In
this case
the
unlawful act, which for
the
purpose of
the
present sub-
mission one assumes is proved against
the
female prisoner, is
criminal abortion. Can it be said that, if criminal abortion is
shown to have been committed and, furthermore death is
shown to have resulted therefrom,
the
abortionist is not guilty,
at
the
very least, of manslaughter?
If
anegative answer is
99
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