Hello again, I’m writing this instead of doing revision for my exams, so I thought that I ought to write is about what I’m meant to be studying. So, murder, why not?
Murder is a common law offence meaning that it is not actually written down in the statute books of parliament, it has just been made by judges. The most accepted definition is that of Lord Coke which is:
‘The unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being, under the King or Queen’s Peace with malice aforethought expressed or implied.’
If a murder is done by a British citizen in another country, they are still tried in a English court.
*in any offence, there must be two things taken into account, the actus reus meaning the physical act and the mens rea which is what is going on in the mind at the time.
The actus reus in this case is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being, under the King or Queen’s peace. The killing must be unlawful. For example a lawful killing would be self defence. Murder is a result crime, the defendant cannot be guilty unless their act or failure to act caused the death.
*An omission is a failure to act
In nearly every case the actus reus would be an act such as a shooting but is can also be committed by an omission if the defendant has a duty to the victim. These are
- A duty because of a contract
- A duty because of a relationship
- A duty that has been taken voluntarily
- A duty because a chain of events was started
In relation to the ‘reasonable person in being’ it basically means that it has to be a human being. But there are two problems in relation to this. These are
- Is a foetus in the womb a reasonable creature in being?
- Is a victim still alive if they are ‘braindead’ but being kept alive by a life support machine?
With the foetus, it has been said that a murder charge cannot be charged. It must have an independent existence from the mother. The defendant can be charged with manslaughter.
In relation to braindead, a doctor is allowed to switch off a life support machine without charge but if someone else did it then they would be liable for murder.
More on next blog.
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