murder Flashcards
booklet 10
definition of murder
'’causing unlawful death of a human being under the kings peace with malice aforethought’’- sir Edward Coke
aforethought meaning
pre-meditated
what type of offence is it
common law offence
actus reus
causing
unlawful death
human being
kings peace
causing
usual rules of causation
factual cause (R v White)
legal cause more than de minimus (r v kimsey)
chain of causation (thin skull rule)
unlawful death cases
Re A (conjoined twins)
Airedale NHS trust v Bland
R v Clegg
when may causing death be legal
if d has a valid defense (e.g self defense)
if they are a doctor who is withdrawing treatment
Re A (conjoined twins)
got a court order to say fr can operate on twins- 1 would defo die
Airedale NHS trust v Bland
V left in vegetative state so could lawfully have treatment to end his life as wasn’t going to get better
R v Clegg
death was unlawful as self defense was not necessary as there was no longer a threat
of a human being cases (3)
AGs ref
R v Malcherek
R v Inglis
AGs ref- what did this tell us
foetus is not legally recognized as a human being
R v Malcherek- what did this tell us
someone on life support who is considered ‘brain stem dead’ is no longer alive in the eyes of the law
R v Inglis- what did this tell us
a victim with brain damage however severe is still classed as a human being
under the kings peace meaning
a soldier who kills during wartime is not guilty of murder as the death was not under the kings peace
