Manslaughter In English Law
- For a discussion of the law in other countries, see manslaughter
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind"). In England and Wales, the usual practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option (see lesser included offence). The jury then decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of either murder or manslaughter. On conviction for manslaughter, sentencing is at the judge's discretion, whereas a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory on conviction for murder. Manslaughter may be either voluntary or involuntary, depending on whether the accused has the required mens rea for murder.
Read more about Manslaughter In English Law: Voluntary Manslaughter, Involuntary Manslaughter, Defence, Mode of Trial and Sentence, Attempt
Famous quotes containing the words manslaughter, english and/or law:
“I wonder what subtle form of manslaughter is next on the program. Am I to be dropped into a vat of molten steel and become part of a new skyscraper, or are you going to ask this female to kiss me again and poison me to death?”
—Ernest Lehman (b.1920)
“He is no mystic, either, more than Newton or Arkwright or Davy, and tolerates none. Not one obscure line, or half line, did he ever write. His meaning lies plain as the daylight.... It has the distinctness of picture to his mind, and he tells us only what he sees printed in largest English type upon the face of things.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There was that law of life so cruel and so just which demanded that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)