Non fatal offences murder Flashcards
what is the definition of murder
murder is the ‘unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being and under the king or queens peace with malice arfethought, express or implied’
what type of law offence is murder
murder is a common law offence meaning that it is not defined by any act of parliament and is defined by decisions of judges in different cases
if the defendant of murder is a british citizen he may be tried in an english court for a murder s/he is alleged to have commited in anoither countrt
what are the two things the actus reus can be
the actus Reus can be an act or omission but it must cause the death of a victim
usually the actus reus is an act but in some cases it can be an ommision failure to act that can make a person liable for an offfence
what case is an example of omission
R v Gibbins Proctor
this is a case where the father of a 7 year old girl and his mistress kept the girl separate from the fathers other children and deliberately starved her to death the omission or failure to feed her was deliberate with the intention of killing or causing serious serious harm to her was enough to charge with murder
what 4 things have to be proved for acts reus of murder
the defednant killed
a reasonable creature in being
under the queens peace
the killing was unlawful
reasonable creature in being
this phrase mans a human being this disregards;
a foetus in the womb- it hasn’t been expelled from the body
potentially someone who is brain dead-doctors are allowed to switch off life support without being liable for murder
mens rea for murder
.exress malice areforethought - inention to kill
implied malice areforethought-inention to cause grievous bodily harm
