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Concealment of birth is the act of a parent (or other responsible person) failing to report the birth of achild. The term is sometimes used to refer to hiding the birth of a child from friends or family, but is most often used when the appropriate authorities have not been informed about astillbirth or the death of a newborn. This is acrime in many countries, with varying punishments.
Australian Capital Territory
Section 47 of theCrimes Act 1900 creates the offence of concealment of birth.[1]
New South Wales
Section 85 of theCrimes Act 1900 creates the offence of concealment of birth.[2]
Northern Territory
Section 163 of the Criminal Code Act creates the offence of concealment of birth.[3][permanent dead link]
South Australia
Section 83 of theCriminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 creates the offence of concealment of birth.[4]
Western Australia
Section 291 of the Criminal Code (Schedule to theCriminal Code Compilation Act 1913) creates the offence of concealing the birth of children.[5][permanent dead link]
Tasmania
Section 166 of theCriminal Code Act 1924 creates the offence of concealment of birth.[6]
Victoria
Section 67 of theCrimes Act 1958 creates the offence of concealing birth of a child.[7]
Section 242 of the CanadianCriminal Code (injury to, or death of, a child due to its mother neglecting to obtain assistance in child birth with intent that it should not live or to conceal its birth).[8]Archived 2011-07-13 at theWayback Machine (English)[9] (French)
Section 243 of that Code (concealing the dead body of a child with intent to its conceal birth).[10]Archived 2011-07-13 at theWayback Machine (English)[11] (French)
In England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland, section 60 of theOffences Against the Person Act 1861 creates the offence of concealing the birth of a child:
If any woman shall be delivered of a child, every person who shall, by any secret disposition of the dead body of the said child, whether such child died before, at, or after its birth, endeavour to conceal the birth thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, ...
The words "with or withouthard labour" omitted in the first place were repealed for England and Wales by section 1(2) of theCriminal Justice Act 1948.
The proviso to this section, as extended by any subsequent enactment, was repealed for England and Wales by section 10 of, andparagraph 13(1)(a) of Schedule 2 to, andPart III of Schedule 3 to, theCriminal Law Act 1967. Originally, the proviso allowed the jury to find analternative verdict of this offence on a charge ofmurder. In England and Wales, it was subsequently extended to allow the jury to find an alternative verdict of this offence on a charge ofchild destruction[1] or a charge ofinfanticide.[2]
| Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act 1623 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to prevent the destroying and murthering of bastard children. |
| Citation | 21 Jas. 1. c. 27 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 29 May 1624 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act 1707 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | Act to prevent the destroying and murthering of Bastard Children. |
| Citation | 6 Anne c. 4 (I) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 24 October 1707 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
Section 60 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 is framed on section 14 of theOffences Against the Person Act 1828 (which applied to England, includingWales and Berwick) and section 17 of theOffences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. 34), which applied to Ireland.[3] This offence was previously created by section 4 ofLord Ellenborough's Act (43 Geo. 3. c. 58) (1803). This in turn replaced "An Act to prevent the Murthering of Bastard Children", theConcealment of Birth of Bastards Act 1623 (21 Jas. 1. c. 27)[4] and another act (6 Anne c. 4 (I)) applying to Ireland, which were repealed by section 3.
The words "if any woman shall be delivered of a child, every person" were retained in section 60 after a division in the select committee of theHouse of Commons, and the members were equally divided upon the subject. The word "secret" was in like manner retained after a division in the committee.[3]
An offence under section 60 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 could not be tried atQuarter Sessions.[5]
Section 31 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 made provision in relation to any person who should counsel, aid or abet the commission of, amongst other things, a misdemeanour under section 14.
In South Africa, section 113 of theGeneral Law Amendment Act, 1935, amended by theJudicial Matters Amendment Act 66, 2008,[6] creates the offence of concealing the birth of a child:
Concealment of birth of newly born child
113. (1) Any person who, without a lawful burial order, disposes of the body of any newly born child with intent to conceal the fact of its birth, whether the child died before, during or after birth, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years.
(2) A person may be convicted under subsection (1) although it has not been proved that the child in question died before its body was disposed of.
In theUnited States, concealing birth was once a crime punishable bycapital punishment. In 1785,Hannah Piggen fromMassachusetts was the last person to beput to death for concealing the birth/death of an infant.[7]
Concealing birth remains illegal in many states. Its seriousness as a crime, however, differs from state to state, ranging from afelony inArkansas[8] to amisdemeanor inWashington.[9]
