Law
- Created by: meganlawson1999
- Created on: 04-01-17 11:55
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- Murder
- Definition
- Sir Edward Coke 1797: "Murder is when a man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth ... any reasonable creature n rerum natura under the king's peace, with malice aforethought, either expressed by the party or implied by law"
- Murder occurs when someone unlawfully kills another person with an intention to either kill or to do serious harm
- Actus Reus
- 1. Unlawful killing
- Some killings may be lawful. Self defence or the prevention of crime, may mean that a killing was not unlawful. Some killing may be authorised e.g war time, killngs by the police or the death penalty
- 2. Reasonable creature
- When does life start: A-G's Ref (No. 3 of 1994) (1997) - Must have an independent existence to the mother
- 3. Under the Queen's Peace
- This means that it is not considered murder if you kill an enemy during war time
- 1. Unlawful killing
- Mens Rea
- The mens rea as in Cokes definition is killing with malice aforethaught
- Malice: intending to cause damage or harm. This can be misleading as there is no requirement for malice
- Aforethought: Planning or premeditation however, this can again be misleading as most murders are committed in the spur of the moment and are not premeditated
- Malice Aforethought means that the defendant must either intend to kill or intend to cause GBH - "really serious" harm - DPP v Smith
- Malice: intending to cause damage or harm. This can be misleading as there is no requirement for malice
- Malice Aforethought means that the defendant must either intend to kill or intend to cause GBH - "really serious" harm - DPP v Smith
- The MR of murder is intention only a murder cannot be committed recklessly. There are two types of intention
- Direct intention - In this case the defendant wants to cause the result e.g. R v Mohan & R v Vickers
- Oblique intention - The defendant admits the AR but did not intent to kill or cause GBH it is left to the jury to decide if intention can be found e.g. R v Hyam & R v Moloney & R v Hancock & Shankland & R v Nedrick & R v Woollin & R v Mathews & Alleyne
- The mens rea as in Cokes definition is killing with malice aforethaught
- Omissions
- The death will usually occur due to a positive act caused by the defendant however the death can sometimes be caused by an omission
- If the defendant fails to carry out a duty that they owe to the victim and this failure causes the victims death then the death has been caused by an omission
- Cases: R v Stone & Dobinson - voluntary acceptance of responsibility, R v Gibbons & Proctor - Parental Duty, R v Miller - the creation of a dangerous situation
- If the defendant fails to carry out a duty that they owe to the victim and this failure causes the victims death then the death has been caused by an omission
- The death will usually occur due to a positive act caused by the defendant however the death can sometimes be caused by an omission
- Causation
- There are two types of causation: Factual and Legal
- Factual Causation test: 'But for' test - R v White
- Legal Causation test: The act must be the operating and substantial cause of the harm/death
- There must be no breaks in the chain of causation, if the chain is broken they cannot be found guilty of murder
- There are two types of causation: Factual and Legal
- Definition
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