Time as a Mandatory Attribute of Intentional Killing of a Newborn Child by His Mother

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of criminal responsibility for the murder of a newborn child by his mother. In the focus of attention are the content characteristics of time of the crime. The author reveals the scientific discussions and justifies his own point of view concerning the definition of time periods, e.i. «during childbirth», «immediately after birth», having analyzed the relationship between the time of the offense and special psychophysical state of a woman-mother. The author concludes that not special psychophysical state, but the time of the offense, namely during childbirth or immediately after birth can be considered as mandatory feature of the offense, which is liable to establish operational development. The period of «during childbirth» is a period of time, which lasts from the beginning of criminal protection life of a child till the completion of the childbirth process. Period «immediately after birth» is a period of time starting with the completion of giving birth to a child (birth of afterbirth), but the end of this period is determined in each particular case depending on the circumstances. During these time periods woman (woman in childbirth) is in a special psychophysical state, so the responsibility for this crime is mitigated.