Section 79 - Duty to give access to the necessaries of health and life

(1) Where there is a duty to give access to the necessaries of health and life,

(a) a spouse is under a duty to give access to the necessaries of health and life to the other spouse who is actually under the control of that spouse;

(b) a parent is under a duty to give access to the necessaries of health and life to the parent’s child actually under the control of the parent, which child is not of an age and capacity as to be able to obtain those necessaries;

(c) a guardian of a child is under a duty to give access to the necessaries of health and life to the child actually under the control of the guardian.

(2) A woman, who is delivered of a child,

(a) is under a duty, so far as she is able, to summon assistance and to do any other act necessary and reasonable for preserving the child from harm by exposure, exhaustion, or otherwise by reason of its condition as a newly-born child;

(b) is under a duty, so far as she is able, to support and take reasonable care of the child, which is under her control or in her care or charge, until it can safely be weaned.

(3) A person who, by virtue of office as a gaoler, relieving officer, or otherwise, or by reason of the provisions of an enactment is bound to supply any of the necessaries of health and life to a person, is under a duty to supply them accordingly.

(4) A person who wrongfully imprisons another person is under a duty to supply that other person with the necessaries of health and life.

(5) A person who has agreed or undertaken to supply any of the necessaries of health and life to another person whether that other person is a servant, an apprentice or otherwise is under a duty to supply them accordingly.

(6) Where a person under a duty expressed in this section has not the means of discharging the duty, and there is another person or public authority bound to furnish that person with the means, that person is under a duty to take reasonable steps for obtaining the means from that other person or authority.

(7) Where a person, under a duty to supply any of the necessaries of health and life to another person, lawfully charges the wife, servant of that person, or any other person with the supply of those necessaries, and furnishes the means for that purpose, the wife, servant, or other person so charged is under a duty to supply them accordingly.

(8) For the purposes of this section, “necessaries of health and life” includes proper food, clothing, shelter, warmth, medical or surgical treatment, and any other matter which is reasonably necessary for the preservation of the health and life of a person.

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Subsection (6) The father or mother of a child who does not have the means of providing the child with food or medical attendance, is bound to seek assistance from an officer appointed to relieve the poor, but is not bound to beg from private charity.