Consideraţiuni critice referitoare la infracţiunea de ucidere ori vătămare a nou-născutului săvârşită de către mamă - Acta Universitatis Sapientiae

Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Legal Studies, Special Issue (2023) 5–10

DOI: 10.47745/AUSLEG.2023.12.X.01

Critical Considerations Regarding the Crime of Killing or Harming the Newborn, Committed by the Mother

Abstract. The article is set to analyse the changes within the Romanian legislation in respect to the crime of killing or harming the newborn, committed by the mother. The crime is incriminated within article 200 of the new Romanian Criminal Code and the incrimination has suffered a series of consequences that apparently changed the whole concept of infanticide.

The former legislation mitigated the criminal responsibility of a mother that committed the infanticide against her child if she had acted upon a state of disturbance caused by the process of giving birth. Apparently the new legislation dropped this concept in favour of establishing a time limit, set by the legislator to 24 hours.

The article argues that the concept of disturbance caused by the process of giving birth was not in fact dropped, but the legislator opted for a legal presumption that this state is inherent in the first 24 hours after giving birth. The consequences of this theory are numerous and argued both form a historical perspective and a logical one.

Keywords: state of disturbance, birth, infanticide, legal presumption