Suicide / Concealment of the Body of a Child Flashcards
What do sections 179 and 180 deal with?
Answer:
Suicide and suicide pacts.
What are the ingredients of section 179 inciting, counseling, procuring, aiding and abetting suicide?
Answer:
(1)Everyone is liable who: (14 years)
(a) Insights, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide,
if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof
(b) aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide
(2) Offence to incite, counsel, procure any person to commit suicide even if they do not commit or attempt to commit suicide. Penalty 3 years.
What are the ingredients for section 180(1) - suicide pact?
Everyone who
In pursuance of a suicide pact kills any other person
Is guilty of manslaughter and not of murder and is liable accordingly
In the situation where two or more persons enter into a suicide pact and in the execution of it one or more of them kills himself what is the survivor guilty of?
Answer:
Any survivor is guilty of being a party to a death under a suicide pact and is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years but will not be convicted of an offence against section 179 of this Act.
Under section 180 (3) What is meant by the term “suicide pact”?
Answer:
Means a common agreement between two or more persons having for its object the death of all of them whether or not each is to take his own life.
Nothing will be treated as done by the person who enters into the pact unless he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact
In relation to aiding and abetting suicide what is the requirement in regard to assisting the suicide of another?
Answer:
As per s66 of the Crime Act 1961 in relation to parties there is a requirement to do something in one of the specified ways in order to assist the suicide of another.
E.g. Person A giving a tetraplegic, Person B, an overdose of sleeping pills after Person B requested it.
In regard to culpability what does section 179 cover?
Answer:
Section 179 makes it an offense for a person (person A) to assist another person (person B) to commit suicide without any intention of person A committing suicide themselves
Define a situation where is section 180(1) applies in relation to a suicide pact and only one person dies as a result of the other persons actions.
Answer:
Person A and person B enter into a suicide pact and person A shoots person B killing person B before shooting themselves.
If person A lives then person A would be guilty of manslaughter and not murder.
Explain a situation where section 180(2) may apply and who is liable?
Answer:
Two people into into a suicide pact both responsible for directions that caused one of the deaths e.g. person A and person B both self administer a high dosage of morphine and person A dies as a result of their own actions but person B survives the overdose.
Person B would be guilty of party to a death under a suicide pact.
Max imprisonment 5 year
Person B cannot be convicted of an offence under s179 CA61 - aiding and abetting suicide.
What are the elements to s181 Crimes Act 1961 - Concealing the body of child?
Answer:
Everyone who
Disposes of the body of any dead child in any manner
With intent to conceal the fact of its birth, whether the child died before, or during, or after birth.
The term ‘child’ is not defined.
What is the provision intended to refer to?
Answer:
It is intended to refer to a child of comparatively recent birth.
Must a body be dead when disposed of?
Is it necessary that the body should be found and identified?
Answer:
No
Answer:
It is not necessary the body should be found and identified
What is the appropriate charge if the child is alive when disposed of and subsequently dies?
Answer:
It may be deemed murder or manslaughter or in the case of a mother, infanticide.
How may the requirement, that the act of disposal must be done with the intent of concealing the fact of birth, be satisfied?
Answer
It may be satisfied even though the birth was known to some people but not others, as it will be enough that it was the intent to conceal the birth from a particular individual.
