Questions Flashcards
Can an organisation (as opposed to a human being) be convicted of murder or manslaughter? Explain your answer
No
Because the killing must be done by a human being, an organisation cannot be convicted as the principal offender or party to as it is not possible for an organisation to serve the offence’s mandatory life sentence.
Section 160 of the Crimes Act 1961 defines what constitutes culpable homicide. What are the five ways set out in subsection (2) of this section?
Under s160(2) of the Crimes Act 1961, culpable homicide consists of killing a person by:
− an unlawful act
− an omission without lawful excuse to perform or observe any legal duty
− an unlawful act and an omission to perform a legal duty
− using threats, fear of violence or deception to make the victim do an act that leads to their death
− wilfully frightening a child under 16 years of age or a sick person.
What is the legal view of consent to death?
The law does not recognise the right of a person to consent to being killed (s63 of the Crimes Act 1961). As a consequence, their consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of anyone else involved in the killing.
Is a body required to prove the death of a person? Explain your answer with reference to case law R v Harry.
No a body is not required to prove death of a person has occurred. Death should be provable by such circumstances as render it morally certain and leave no ground for reasonable doubt – that the circumstantial evidence should be so cogent and compelling as to convince a jury that upon no rational hypothesis other than murder can the facts be accounted for. R v Horry
Would you be charged with any offence if you fatally injured another player during a rugby match? If so, what might the charges be?
Normally you would not be charged with the killing of another player if they died from injuries you caused while playing football. However, you would be guilty of manslaughter if your actions were considered likely to cause serious injury, as you should have been aware of this at the time and refrained from the action.
If an offender intends to kill A but inadvertently strikes the fatal blow to B, is the offender still guilty of murder?
Section 167(c) states that if the offender means to cause the death of one person and by mistake or accident kills another, even though he did not mean to hurt the other person, then it is murder
In a charge of attempt to murder, what is the Crown required to prove?
The Crown must establish the mens rea and actus rea as set out in s72 of the Crimes Act 1961. An intention to kill must be proved.
Define voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
In voluntary manslaughter, mitigating circumstances (such as a suicide pact) reduce what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter, even though the defendant may have intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. Involuntary manslaughter covers those types of unlawful killing in which death is caused by criminal negligence. In such cases there has been no intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.
When considering what charge to press in a case where someone has been killed in a sudden fight, what issues do you need to consider?
You need to consider whether there was:
− self-defence
− the requisite mens rea for a murder/manslaughter charge.
