Abstract: A battery pack short-circuit protection circuit and a method whereby fire damage etc. of a battery pack caused by short-circuiting of terminals by metal objects etc., which cannot be prevented simply by an over-current cut-off switch, can be reliably prevented. In a current path between a battery pack charging/discharging terminal of the battery pack and a battery cell in the battery pack, there is provided a switching circuit that effects opening and closing of the current path; a switch drive circuit is provided that drives the switching circuit; the switching circuit closes the current path only when a drive control signal is applied through a control terminal from the charging/discharging device or the main unit of the equipment.