Mind map
Murder
Mind map: murder law mind map
Map content
Murder
Actus Reas
- Act or Omission
- Omission
- Only guilty if it falls under the 6 exceptions
- Gibbins & Proctor
- Only guilty if it falls under the 6 exceptions
- Act
- Kill someone
- Omission
- Reasonable Creature in Being
- Human
- A foetus is not considered a reasonable creature in being
- AG Ref No 3 of 1994
- A brain dead person is not a reasonable creature in being
- Life support
- Bland
- Malcherek v Steel
- Life support
- Queen's Peace
- Killing someone in war is not murder
- Killing a prisoner of war is murder
- They have surrendered and serve no threat
- Causation
- Legal
- Main or significant cause
- Cheshire
- Main or significant cause
- Factual
- But for test
- White
- But for test
- Legal
- Reasonable Force
- D reasonably and honestly thought it was necessary
- Subjective test
- Jury have to decide
- Beckford
- quashed
- Jury may make decision based on emotions rather than facts
- Clegg
- Excessive force
- Clegg
- Beckford
- Unclear: difficult to direct jury
- D reasonably and honestly thought it was necessary
- House Holders
- Crime and Courts Act 2013
- Wide definition
- Believes victim to be tresspasser
- D must not be a tresspasser
- D must be in or partially in building which is a dwelling
- Year and a Day rule
- Old Law
- Victim must die within a year and a day of the act to be guilty of murder
- Medical advances: life support machine
- People were living past a year and a day
- Limit was lifted
- People were living past a year and a day
- Old Law
- Act or Omission
Definition
- Unlawful killing
- Reasonable creature of being
- Disrupting the Queen's peace
Defences
- Self defence
- Full defence
- Reasonable
- Excessive
- Could argue loss of control
- Partial defence
- Clegg
- Martin
- Could argue loss of control
- Necessity
- Full defence
- With courts approval
- Re A
- Duress
- Defence not allowed for murder or attempted murder
- Howell
- Defence not allowed for murder or attempted murder
- Self defence
Mens Rea
- Intention
- Malice aforethought
- Express intent
- Kill
- Implied intent
- GBH
- Vickers
- GBH
- Direct intent
- Oblique intent
- Virtual certainty
- Woollin
- Virtual certainty
- Transferred Malice
- Transferred mens rea
- Gnango
- Murder: victim
- Attempted murder: intended victim
- Latimer
- Intention
Law Reform (Law Commission)
- American Law
- First degree murder
- Intent to kill
- Second degree murder
- Not premeditated
- First degree murder
- 2006: Murder, Manslaughter & Infanticide
- Rickety structure set up on shakey foundations
- Uncertain: lacks clarity and has long been acknowledged that it is in dire need of reform
- No defence of self defence if excessive force is used
- Duress is not available
- Has been developed bit by bit in individula cases and is not a coherent whole
- Can be guilty if they intend GBH
- Mandatory life sentence doesn't allow flexibility in sentencing
- Serious Harm Rule
- Homicide Act 1957
- Parliament never intended a killing to amount to murder unless D realised their conduct might cause death
- Defence of murder is too wide
- Cunningham 1981
- Lord Edmund Davis believed the defendant had mens rea
- Homicide Act 1957
- American Law