Evaluation of the law on murder: Intent

The Law Commission (2006) Manslaughter and Infanticide (Report Law Com 304) discussed that there are many problems with the law on murder: 'the law concerning homicide in England and Wales is a rickety structure set upon shaky foundations... [it is] constantly changed to the point that they can no longer be stated with any certainty'. 

In Moloney (1985), Lord Bridge said that in a majority of cases, the trial judge would be able to ask the jury to consider whether the prosecution had convinced them that the defendant intended upon a particular conseqence, which in cases where there is a stabbing or shooting, there is usually no problem.

However, establishing mens rea in cases where the prime intent was not to kill will inevitably involve problems such as the question of what the defendant actually intended, and what the defendant foresaw might have happened as a result of their act. Only the defendant himself can possibly know what was on his mind at the time. In some cases, even the defendant himself might not have known. At the moment, a person who intends to cause serious bodily harm and actually causes his victim's death is guilty…