The Unborn Child

Abstract

Some years ago the position of the unborn child in the English law of tort attracted my attention and it is chiefly in connection with that branch of the law that I wish to discuss the topic. But, as almost invariably happens in legal research, I soon found that there were other aspects of the subject which at least deserved passing notice, and at most might be useful for analogy with or distinction from the aspect in tort. It is the old tale of going out to catch a whale and landing several other fish in the process. The three other branches of the law with which I made contact were the law of property, criminal law and the law of contract. I shall touch upon these, but I have no intention of investigating them in detail. There are plenty of books which cover the topic in Property Law and Criminal Law respectively. In the law of contract there is a significant blank. The order of discussion in this article will be:— I— The law of property . II— Criminal law . III— The law of contract . IV— The law of tort .