Murder Manslaughter Facts
Homicide – (Murder & Manslaughter)
Homicide is the term for killing a human being unlawfully. There are two types of homicide, Murder and manslaughter. The actus reus is the same in any homicide; an unlawful act or omission that causes the death of another human being. The mens rea for murder is known as malice aforethought, which can either be express malice (an intention to kill) or implied malice (an intention to cause really serious injury with or without the foresight of causing death).
There are two types of manslaughter: voluntary and involuntary. The mens rea is the same for murder and voluntary manslaughter. The absence of intention in the mens rea is what makes the difference between murder/voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
Murder
Murder is not defined in statute, but has developed through judges decisions on murder cases. The accepted definition of murder is that of the seventeenth century judge, Lord Coke: “Murder is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being and under the king’s (or Queen’s) Peace with malice aforethought, express or implied”
Actus reus of Murder and manslaughter
The actus reus of murder and manslaughter are the same. The important elements are to cause the death by the unlawful killing of a human being whilst under the Queen’s peace. i. Cause: it is important that the action of the defendant is the cause of the victim’s death. It is easy to establish this fact in straight forward cases were the defendant directly stabs, shoots or poisons the victim and they die immediately. However if in the course of the defendants act the intended victim takes avoiding action or someone else intervenes or the victim has characteristics that leave them prone to injury or death, the result may be what is known as a break in the chain of causation.
The prosecution must prove the factual and legal causation. ‘Two things must be proven to establish factual causation;’ 1. the ‘but for’ test
Homicide is the term for killing a human being unlawfully. There are two types of homicide, Murder and manslaughter. The actus reus is the same in any homicide; an unlawful act or omission that causes the death of another human being. The mens rea for murder is known as malice aforethought, which can either be express malice (an intention to kill) or implied malice (an intention to cause really serious injury with or without the foresight of causing death).
There are two types of manslaughter: voluntary and involuntary. The mens rea is the same for murder and voluntary manslaughter. The absence of intention in the mens rea is what makes the difference between murder/voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
Murder
Murder is not defined in statute, but has developed through judges decisions on murder cases. The accepted definition of murder is that of the seventeenth century judge, Lord Coke: “Murder is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being and under the king’s (or Queen’s) Peace with malice aforethought, express or implied”
Actus reus of Murder and manslaughter
The actus reus of murder and manslaughter are the same. The important elements are to cause the death by the unlawful killing of a human being whilst under the Queen’s peace. i. Cause: it is important that the action of the defendant is the cause of the victim’s death. It is easy to establish this fact in straight forward cases were the defendant directly stabs, shoots or poisons the victim and they die immediately. However if in the course of the defendants act the intended victim takes avoiding action or someone else intervenes or the victim has characteristics that leave them prone to injury or death, the result may be what is known as a break in the chain of causation.
The prosecution must prove the factual and legal causation. ‘Two things must be proven to establish factual causation;’ 1. the ‘but for’ test
Cited: ©SixFormLaw, 2003. Criminal Courts - pre-trial matters - bail. [Online] Available at: http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod1/1_2_criminal_process_courts/1_2_2_criminal_courts/02_bail.htm ©Sixth Form Law, 2003. Cases - murder - actus reus. [Online] Available at: http://sixthformlaw.info/02_cases/mod3a/cases_31_murder_actus.htm#Armstrong,_R_v_%5B1989%5D_Owen_J Elliott, C. & Quinn, F., 2008. Criminal Law. 7th ed. Harlow: Pearsons Education Limited. Martin, J., 2009. OCR Criminal Law. 2nd ed. London: Hodder Education. Reed, A. & Fitzpatrick, B., 2006. Criminal Law. 3rd ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell. [ 2 ]. Elliott, C. & Quinn, F., 2008. Criminal Law. 7th ed. Harlow.p.49 [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. Reed, A. & Fitzpatrick, B., 2006. Criminal Law. 3rd ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell. p40 [ 5 ] [ 6 ]. As held in Church [1966]. Martin, J., 2009. OCR Criminal Law. 2nd ed. London: Hodder Education p.87 [ 7 ] [ 8 ]. Martin, J., 2009. OCR Criminal Law. 2nd ed. London: Hodder Education p.90 [ 9 ] [ 10 ]. ©SixFormLaw, 2003. Criminal Courts - pre-trial matters - bail. [Online] Available at: http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod1/1_2_criminal_process_courts/1_2_2_criminal_courts/02_bail.htm