This chapter discusses homicide offences. It covers in detail murder, defences specific to murder (resulting in a verdict of so-called ‘voluntary’ manslaughter), and so-called ‘involuntary’ manslaughter. However, these traditional topics no longer cover the whole ground, as Parliament has created a number of new homicide offences in recent years. It concludes with a review of the structure of the law of homicide, considering the question whether it is satisfactory to retain the centuries-old current structure, with murder at the top, and then manslaughter of different kinds beneath that, together with a hotchpotch of specialized homicide offences with varying degrees of gravity. For example, would the law be improved by introducing a new category of ‘second degree’ murder?
Chapter
This chapter discusses homicide offences. It covers in detail murder, defences to murder, and involuntary manslaughter. However, these traditional topics no longer cover the whole ground, as Parliament has created a number of new homicide offences in recent years. Accordingly, attention is paid to causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult, and causing death by driving. It concludes with a review of the structure of the law of homicide: is the current structure adequate, with murder at the top, and then manslaughter of different kinds beneath that, together with a hotchpotch of specialized homicide offences with varying degrees of gravity?
