Criminal Law Manslaughter Flashcards
What may voluntary manslaughter be used as
As a partial defence to murder
What is voluntary manslaughter
The D must have committed the AR and have MR.
However, there will be mitigating circumstances that will mean the charge of murder is reduced to voluntary m.
The 3 partial defences to murder are:
1) Loss of control
2) Diminished responsibility
3) Suicide pact
What act governs loss of control
s3 of the Homicide Act 1957
What does loss of control mean
Where a person is provoked to lose self-control
What does the subjective test for loss of control look at
Was the actual D provoked enough to lose self control?
What does the objective test for loss of control look at
Would the reasonable person have been provoked enough to lose control and so as the D did?
What was the requirement for provocation
Loss of control had to be ‘sudden and temporary’, established in the case of R v Duffy 1949
R v Duffy 1949 LP
Loss of control had to be sudden and temporary
DPP v Camplin 1978 LP
Some characteristics of the accused can be attributed to the reasonable person
what are the 3 requirements of the defence of provocation
1) There must be evidence of provocation
2) The D must have been provoked to lose their self control
3) The provocation must be such as to make a reasonable man do as the D did
What was the law of provocation replaced with
The defence of loss of control
R v Ahluwalia 1992 LP
Provocation had to be sudden and temporary and did not allow for so called ‘slow burn’ cases where a person reacts in desperation after cumulative years of abuse. The law was changed in 2009.
Loss of control need not to be sudden and temporary but there has to be a ….
qualifying trigger
Summary of provocation
- loss of control
- fear
- things said or done
- reasonable person
- Was there a loss of control?
- Was it triggered by by fear of serious violence?
- Was it triggered by things said and/ or done giving the D a sense of being seriously wronged?
- Would a person of the same age and sex and with a normal degree of tolerance have reacted in the circumstances in the same way?
Loss of control 2009 summary
- provocation
- subjective
- 2 tests
- objective
- Requirement of ‘sudden and temporary’ had been dropped.
- Subjective element- the actual D must have feared serious violent from the victim or another person
- It now includes a subjective and objective test
- objective test is narrower- only sex and age are taken into account
Diminished responsibility
What act governs this
s2 of the Homicide Act 1957
What is the definition of Diminished responsibility?
A person who kills another person is not convicted of murder is they were suffering from abnormality of the mind
To demonstrate an abnormality of the mind the D must:
- Understand the nature of their conduct
- Form a rational judgement
- Exercise self-control
The abnormality of mental functioning must provide ….
An explanation for the D’s acts and omissions on doing or being party to the killing
Definition of diminished responsibility
Define ‘abnormality of mental functioning’
A state of mind so different from that of ordinary human beings that a reasonable person would identify it as abnormal
Definition of diminished responsibility
Define ‘a recognised medical condition’
The jury is not bound to accept medical evidence but the act stresses the importance of expert psychiatric evidence
Definition of diminished responsibility
Define ‘substantially impaired’
The jury decides on the definition of ‘substantial’
Definition of diminished responsibility
Define ‘provides an explanation for’
There must be a casual link between the D’s abnormality and the killing. However, the abnormality does not need to be the sole cause. The defence will not be successful if the D’s abnormality made no difference to their behaviour
DR and intoxication
Could intoxication be classed as involuntary?
Yes, as a result of addiction e.g. alcohol dependency syndrome, so this could be classed as DR due to the effect on the brain.
DR- R v Lloyd (1966) LP
Substantial impairment was to be interpreted in a common sense way as more than trivial.
The abnormality of mind must be linked to a recognised medical condition but must also substantially impair the D’s responsibility for their actions.
R v Egan 1992 LP
The defence of DR is lost if the jury believe that but for the voluntary consumption of alcohol the D would not have killed the victim.
R v Tandy 1989
Alcoholism could be classed as a disease including abnormality of the mind, but only if it is caused by a gross impairment of judgement and the drinking was involuntary due to the addiction
The burden of proof is on the …
D
Suicide pact- what act governs this
s4 of the Homicide Act 1957
What is a suicide pact
Where the survivor of a joint suicide pact took prt in the milling of another person in the suicide pact or was a party to the killing
S1 of the Infanticide Act 1938 was amended by what act
S57 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
Criticisms of the current law on loss of control
The factor of sexual infidelity cannot be a qualifying trigger but can be taken into account- this produced a grey are to be clarified through further case law decisions
Criticisms of the current law on DR
The burden of proof is on the D, which goes against the principle of ‘innocent till proven guilty’
