Judge Talks To Jury About Abortion Cases

Chronicle (Levin), 6 August 1947, Page 5

Judge Talks To Jury About Abortion Cases

■Press Association

By Telegraph-

. AUCKLAND," August 5. Special featurea about abortion cases and errors into which juries sometime . fell in deaiing with them, were dis cnssed by Mr. Justice Callan when ad di-essing the jury in one such case. "The law we still have," he said, ' ' is based upon the old f oundation that abortion is just another form of niurder; that it is the taking of life, the life of the"" Unborn," his Honour said- " It is f f equently suggested that juries, . in cases of abortion, sometimes fail to do their duty; t'hat they have b'een icnown;to acquit where they should have convieted-— to acquit not beeause thej have any doubfat all about the guill of the acttised but for other and bad reasons sometimes, I must say, " said his Honour. "That suggestion has, in particular circumstances, appeared to be not unwarranted and tlierefore 1 think it my duty to say a jvord aboui it." . His Honour said there were . two reasons, both of them bad, which it was sometinies suggested operated upon the minds of a jury. The lirst of these was doubts whether the Jaw as to abortion was right and justified and whethei abortion .sliould realiy be ciassed by law as a erime. The other suggestion was that, in the face of evidenee whieh eonvinced the minds of a jury of the guilt of accused, they might nevertheless acquit beeause of feelingJ of dis g'Ust and distaste with the apparenl unfairness of oue of the participants in a crime being convicted on information given by others who had sliared in all the criminality and had given information that had led to the conviclion of tlie other. A Judge could quite understand men called away from theii jrdinary work not having a regular experienee of the administration of the law and justice and suddenly broughl, mto one of these diffieu'lt cases, being swept into one or other of these errors. Tliey were both errors. The duty oi everyone.in a free self-governing coni inunity like this, was to accept the law as it was and there was no doubt whatever about the law. The basis oi the law was that abortion was the tak ing of life and that was a great evil. If it were allowed to grow in any commuiiitjr it ultimateiy meant the ruin oi the community in which it spread. II anyone took an attitude that he would not convict one wrongdoer on the evi dence of others, he was reeordlng a final Vote to render the law powerless to do anything in, these cases. It was disgusting and repulsive to have to use the soi't of material that had to be used in these cases but if, in the net result, a eonviction of guilt was established aiid this evil tended to be reduced, il was quite justified. In the case under review the jury found accused not guilty.