Criminal Law - Murder
- Created by: Dan Edwards
- Created on: 08-01-14 16:34
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- Murder
- Actus Reus
- Unlawful
- Self defence, in war; pallative care
- Of a person in being
- When does life begin?
- Poulton (1832)
- When does life end?
- Malcherek; Steel [1981] 2 All ER 422
- NHS Trust v Bland [1993]
- When does life begin?
- Killing
- D must actually cause V's death (act or omission and normal causation rules apply
- Unlawful
- Where D has the intention
to kill/do GBH, the appropriate charge is murder
- Where D kills, but does not
have the intention to kill/do GBH, there are two possible charges:-
- Gross negligence manslaughter
- These two types of manslaughter are known as “involuntary manslaughter”
-
Unlawful act
manslaughter.
- These two types of manslaughter are known as “involuntary manslaughter”
- Gross negligence manslaughter
- Where D kills, but does not
have the intention to kill/do GBH, there are two possible charges:-
- Murder is when a person unlawfully kills a reasonable person who is in being under the King’s/Queen’s Peace (Sir Edward Coke in the 1600s).
- Mens Rea
- With malice afterthought
- Intention to kill or cause GBH
- DPP v Smith 1961
- Meaning of Intention
- Direct
- R v Nedrick [1986]
- Indirect/Oblique
- R v Woollin [1999]
- Direct
- Defences
- Diminished Reponsibility
- s.52 Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- A person (“D”) who
kills or is a party to the killing of another is not to be convicted of murder
if D was suffering from an abnormality
of mental functioning which—
- (a) Arose from a recognised medical condition
- (1A)Those
things are—
- (a) to understand the nature of D's conduct;
- (b) to form a rational judgment
- (c) to exercise self-control.
- (1A)Those
things are—
- (b) substantially impaired D's ability to do one or more of the things mentioned in subsection (1A), and
- (1A)Those
things are—
- (a) to understand the nature of D's conduct;
- (b) to form a rational judgment
- (c) to exercise self-control.
- (1A)Those
things are—
- (c) provides an
explanation for D's acts and omissions in doing or being a
party to the killing.
- (a) Arose from a recognised medical condition
- A person (“D”) who
kills or is a party to the killing of another is not to be convicted of murder
if D was suffering from an abnormality
of mental functioning which—
- s.52 Coroners and Justice Act 2009
- Suicide Pact
- Loss of Self-Control
- s.54 CJA 2009
- 1(a) D's acts and
omissions in doing or being a party to the
killing resulted from D's loss of self-control,
- 1(b) the loss of self-control had a qualifying
trigger, and
- s.55 CJA 2009 Meaning of “Qualifying Trigger”
- (1)This section applies for the purposes of section 54.
- (2)A
loss of self-control had a qualifying trigger if subsection (3), (4) or (5)
applies.
- (3)This subsection applies if D's loss of self-control was attributable to D's fear of serious violence from V against D or another identified person.
- (4)This subsection applies if D's loss of
self-control was attributable to a thing
or things done or said (or both) which—
- (a) constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character, and
- (b) caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
- (5)This subsection applies if D's loss of self-control was attributable to a combination of the matters mentioned in subsections (3) and (4).
- (c) a person of D's sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D, might have reacted in the same or in a similar way to D.
- s.55 CJA 2009 Meaning of “Qualifying Trigger”
- 1(b) the loss of self-control had a qualifying
trigger, and
- 1(a) D's acts and
omissions in doing or being a party to the
killing resulted from D's loss of self-control,
- s.54 CJA 2009
- Where D successfully pleads one of these, the conviction is reduced to “voluntary manslaughter.”
- Diminished Reponsibility
- Actus Reus
- s.54 CJA 2009
- 1(a) D's acts and
omissions in doing or being a party to the
killing resulted from D's loss of self-control,
- 1(b) the loss of self-control had a qualifying
trigger, and
- s.55 CJA 2009 Meaning of “Qualifying Trigger”
- (1)This section applies for the purposes of section 54.
- (2)A
loss of self-control had a qualifying trigger if subsection (3), (4) or (5)
applies.
- (3)This subsection applies if D's loss of self-control was attributable to D's fear of serious violence from V against D or another identified person.
- (4)This subsection applies if D's loss of
self-control was attributable to a thing
or things done or said (or both) which—
- (a) constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character, and
- (b) caused D to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
- (5)This subsection applies if D's loss of self-control was attributable to a combination of the matters mentioned in subsections (3) and (4).
- (c) a person of D's sex and age, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-restraint and in the circumstances of D, might have reacted in the same or in a similar way to D.
- s.55 CJA 2009 Meaning of “Qualifying Trigger”
- 1(b) the loss of self-control had a qualifying
trigger, and
- 1(a) D's acts and
omissions in doing or being a party to the
killing resulted from D's loss of self-control,
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