The notion of infanticide and its development under Maltese criminal law 1784-2004

Abstract

For quite a number of years, the offence of infanticide was treated under the provisions of wilful homicide. However, the recurrent trend had always been that the killing of a newborn child was a crime distinct from that of homicide. It was only in 194 7, almost a century after the promulgation of the Criminal Code that the offence of infanticide was introduced into Maltese legislation. This thesis· is designed to survey the historico-legal development of the notion of infanticide under Maltese Criminal Law from the promulgation of the Code de Rohan in 1784 down to the present day. The first chapter mentions the aim of this thesis, the sources tapped and the method used. The second chapter deals with the system from 1784 up to 1854, which is the period starting with the Code de Rohan and ending with the Criminal Code. Next, Chapter 3 evaluates the time frame between the enactment of the Criminal Code up to the beginning of the twentieth century, and in particular pointing out the humanitarian trend towards child-killing which was adopted in judicial pronouncements, while the legislative situation remained static. Chapters 4 and 5 offer an examination of the Maltese legislative and judicialstate of affairs until the enactment of Section 245 in 1947, in parallel lines with the developments in the United Kingdom, given that the major developments in the Criminal Code occurred when Malta was under the British rule and influence. The second half of the fifth chapter examines the application of Section 245 till the present date.