Short Answer Questions (PART 1) Flashcards
Define Murder?
(a) If the offender means to cause the death of the person killed
(b) If the offender means to cause to the person killed such bodily injury that was known to the offender to be likely to cause death and was reckless as to whether death ensued or not
(c) If the offender means to cause death, or being so reckless as aforesaid, means to cause such bodily injury as aforesaid to ONE PERSON, and by accident or mistake KILLS another person, though he did not mean to HURT the person killed
Define Homicide?
Homicide is defined as the killing of human being by another, directly or indirectly, by any means whatsoever. Homicide must be culpable to be an offence.
Define Culpable Homicide?
Culpable Homicide means killing is a blameworthy. It includes manslaughter, murder or infanticide. Culpable homicide includes any death caused by an omission, without lawful excuse, to perform or observe any legal duty as defined by s160(2)(b).
Define Unlawful Act?
Means a breach of Act, regulation, rule, or bylaw. To prove culpable homicide under section 160 (2) (a), you need to prove death was caused by breach of an act, regulation, rule or bylaw.
To establish death, you must prove?
· Death occurred
· Deceased is identified as the person who has been killed
· The killing is culpable
Can a person be culpable when offending under a state of automatism?
Actions performed in a state of automatism are involuntary and the common law rule is that there is no criminal liability for such conduct.
What are the defenses for a child under 10 (s21) and a child between 10 and 14?
S21 Children under 10
(1) No person shall be convicted of an offence by reason of any act done or omitted by him when under the age of 10 years.
S22 Children between 10 and 14
(1) No person shall be convicted of an offence by reason of any act done or omitted by him when of the age of 10 but under the age of 14 years,
unless he knew either that the act or omission was wrong or that it was contrary to law.
“M’Naghten’s rules” - Insanity ?
The M’Naghten’s rules (or test) is frequently used to establish whether or not a defendant is insane.
It is based on the person’s ability to think rationally, so that if a person is insane, they were acting under such a defect of reason from a disease of the mind that they did not know:
- The nature and quality of their actions, or
- That what they were doing was wrong.
List four statutory legal duties in respect of the CA 1961:
- Provide the necessaries and protect from injury (S151).
- Provide necessaries and protect from injury to your charges when you are a parent or guardian (S152) actual care.
- Provide necessaries as an employer (S153}.
- Use reasonable knowledge and skill when performing dangerous acts, such as surgery (S155).
- Take precautions when in charge of dangerous things, such as machinery (S156}.
- Avoid omissions that will endanger life (S157).
List the difference between counselling or attempting to procure murder (S174) and conspiracy to Murder (S175)
- Counselling or attempting to procure murder requires that the offence is to be committed in New Zealand (s174)
- Counselling or attempting to procure murder only applies if the murder is not in fact committed (s174)
- Whereas with conspiracy to murder, the murder can take place in New Zealand or elsewhere (s175)
- Whereas conspiracy to murder applies regardless of whether murder is committed or not (s175)
Section 159(1) & (2) CA 1961
Defines when a child becomes a human being and is therefore able to be murdered under Section 158. Detail the provisions of section:
- 159(1) & (2). P13
159(1) A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother.
Whether it has breathed or not
whether it has an independent circulation or not
whether the navel string is severed or not.
- 159(2) the killing of such child is homicide if it dies in consequence of injuries received before, during, or after birth.
Section 178 CA 1961 - What is Infanticide?
- Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide
- Where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed
- Or by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to that or any other child,
- Or by reason of the effect of lactation,
- Or by reason of any disorder consequent upon childbirth or lactation,
- To such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible, she is guilty of infanticide, and not of murder or manslaughter, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.
Infanticide is a charge brought against a mother who has killed her child as a result of her mind being unbalanced due to the effects of giving birth or lactation.
In general, no one is criminally responsible for the killing of another by any influence of the mind. (S163)
What are the exceptions to this rule?
- Wilfully frightening a child under 16 years of age.
- Wilfully frightening a sick person (Mentally or physically).
What are the ingredients to accessory after the fact to murder?
- Knowing any person to have been party to murder, receives, comforts, assists that person or
- tampers with or
- Actively suppresses evidence against that person in order to enable him to escape after arrest or To avoid conviction.
Section 180(3) CA 1961 – What is Suicide Pact?
For the purposes of this section the term suicide pact means a common agreement between 2 or more persons having for its object the death of all of them, whether or not each is to take his own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him in pursuance of the pact unless it is done while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact.
