Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BCE.

The definition of manslaughter differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind; or the circumstances under which the killing occurred (mitigating factors). Though the term is often informally used to describe the unintended death of one human by another, there are other existing situations which it can be used under. Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories: voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter; however, this is not the case in all juridictions.

In some jurisdictions, such as the UK, Canada and some Australian states provocation (or "loss of control" in English law) is a partial defense to a charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise have been murder into manslaughter.