43 Geo. 3. c. 58, commonly called Lord Ellenborough's ActGreaves, C. S. (editor). A Treatise on Crimes and Misdemeanors. Eighth American Edition. T & JW Johnson. Philadelphia. 1857. Volume 1. Page 720. and sometimes referred to as the Malicious Shooting Act 1803Glanville Williams. Textbook of Criminal Law. First Edition. Stevens & Sons. London. 1978. Page xxxv. Google Books. or the Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803,Smith and Hogan. Criminal Law. Eighth Edition. Butterworths. 1996. Page xxii. Google Books. is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The bill was proposed by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough. Lord Ellenborough wished to clarify the law relating to abortion, which, at the time, was not clearly defined in the common law. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords in March 1803 as the Malicious Shootings Bill and also included provisions for clarifying certain other offences. After various amendments it was passed to the House of Commons on 18 May.
The act provided that it was an offence for any person to perform or cause an abortion. The punishment for performing or attempting to perform a post quickening abortion was the death penalty (section 1) and otherwise was transportation for fourteen years (section 2).
Similar provision was made for Scotland by the Malicious Wounding, etc. (Scotland) Act 1825 (6 Geo. 4. c. 126, An Act to make provision in Scotland for the further prevention of malicious shooting and attempting to discharge loaded firearms, stabbing, cutting, wounding, poisoning, maiming, disfiguring, and disabling His Majesty's subjects).
Subsequent developments The whole act was repealed for England and Wales by section 1 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 31), which came into force on 1 July 1828.
The whole act was repealed for India by section 125 of the Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 74), which came into force on 1 March 1829.
The whole act was repealed for Ireland by section 1 of the Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. 34), which came into force on 1 September 1829.
See also Offences against the Person Act 1861 Abortion Act 1967 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
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