When is a killing not 'unlawful' for the purposes of murder?

Where it is legally justified, for example killing using reasonable force in lawful self-defence, or the lawful killing of an enemy combatant during war.

What is meant by a 'reasonable creature in being'?

A living human being. A foetus in the womb is not yet a legal person, so killing a foetus cannot be murder (Attorney-General's Reference (No 3 of 1994)).

What is the test for factual causation in murder?

The 'but for' test: but for the defendant's conduct, would the victim have died as and when they did (R v White 1910).

What is the test for legal causation?

The defendant's conduct must be a substantial and operating cause of death; it need not be the sole or main cause (R v Smith 1959).

OCR A-Level Law H418

Civil Courts and Other Forms of Dispute Resolution

Topic overview Civil courts: jurisdiction, procedure and appeals Employment tribunals and alternative dispute resolution

Criminal Courts and Lay People

Topic overview The criminal process and classification of offences Appeals and appellate courts Sentencing and the powers of the courts Lay magistrates Juries: selection, role and evaluation

Legal Personnel

Topic overview Barristers, solicitors and legal executives The judiciary and its role Separation of powers and judicial independence Evaluating the judiciary and its independence

Access to Justice

Topic overview Government funding of civil and criminal cases Private funding and advice agencies Evaluating access to justice

Rules and Theory of Criminal Law

Topic overview The rules of criminal law Theories of criminal law

General Elements of Criminal Liability

Topic overview Actus reus: acts, omissions and states of affairs Causation in criminal law Conduct and consequence crimes, strict liability and transferred malice

Fatal Offences Against the Person

Topic overview Murder Voluntary manslaughter Involuntary manslaughter Defences and evaluating fatal offences

Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person

Topic overview Common assault and the offence of assault Battery and section 39 Actual bodily harm, wounding and grievous bodily harm Defences and evaluating non-fatal offences

Offences Against Property

Topic overview Theft Robbery Burglary

Mental Capacity Defences

Topic overview Insanity and automatism Intoxication

General Defences

Topic overview Self-defence, duress and necessity Consent as a defence

Preliminary Offences

Topic overview Attempts Impossibility and attempt

Evaluation in Criminal Law

Topic overview Evaluating criminal law

Parliamentary Law Making

Topic overview The legislative process and Green and White Papers Evaluating parliamentary law making

Delegated Legislation

Topic overview Types of delegated legislation Parliamentary and judicial control of delegated legislation Advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislation

Statutory Interpretation

Topic overview Statutory interpretation and intrinsic aids The literal, golden and mischief rules The purposive approach and evaluating statutory interpretation Extrinsic aids and the Human Rights Act 1998

Judicial Precedent

Topic overview The doctrine of precedent The hierarchy of the courts Binding, persuasive and avoiding precedent

Law Reform

Topic overview The Law Commission and law reform Influences on Parliament

European Union Law

Topic overview Institutions of the European Union Sources of European Union law and direct effect The impact of European Union law on English law

Rules and Theory of Tort

Topic overview The rules and theory of tort

Liability in Negligence

Topic overview Duty of care and causation in negligence Breach of duty Economic loss, psychiatric injury and defective products

Occupiers’ Liability

Topic overview Occupiers' liability to visitors and trespassers

Torts Connected to Land

Topic overview Private nuisance Rylands v Fletcher

Vicarious Liability

Topic overview The nature and purpose of vicarious liability Liability for employees and independent contractors

Defences

Topic overview Defences in tort

Remedies in Tort

Topic overview Compensatory damages Other types of damages and mitigation of loss Injunctions

Evaluation in Tort

Topic overview Evaluating negligence and occupiers' liability

Introduction to the Nature of Law

Topic overview Law, rules and the rule of law Civil and criminal law and the development of English law

Law and Morality

Topic overview Law and morals: legal theory, pluralism and the Devlin-Hart debate

Law and Justice

Topic overview The meaning and theories of justice and how far the law achieves it

Law and Society

Topic overview The role of law in society, social control and moral panic Consensus, conflict, labelling and realist theories of law

Rules and Theory of Human RightsHuman rights

Topic overview The rules and theory of human rights

Protection of the Individual’s Human Rights and Freedoms in the UKHuman rights

Topic overview The European Convention and its history The Human Rights Act 1998 and its impact

Key Provisions of the European Convention on Human RightsHuman rights

Topic overview Articles 5 and 6: liberty and a fair trial Articles 8, 10 and 11: private life, expression and assembly Restricting qualified rights: prescribed by law, legitimate aims and necessity

Human Rights and English LawHuman rights

Topic overview Public order offences and trespass to land Interception of communications and police powers Defamation and obscenity Breach of confidence and harassment

Enforcement of Human Rights LawHuman rights

Topic overview The role of the domestic courts Judicial review The European Court of Human Rights

Evaluation in Human RightsHuman rights

Topic overview Evaluating human rights protection in the UK

Rules and Theory of ContractContract

Topic overview The rules and theory of contract

FormationContract

Topic overview Offer and acceptance Consideration, intention to create legal relations and privity

TermsContract

Topic overview Express and implied terms, types of term and exclusion clauses

Vitiating FactorsContract

Topic overview Economic duress Misrepresentation

DischargeContract

Topic overview Discharge by frustration Discharge by performance and breach

Remedies in ContractContract

Topic overview Damages and other contract remedies

Evaluation in ContractContract

Topic overview Evaluating the law of contract

Fatal Offences Against the Person

4 subtopics
9 things to know
Component 1

What Fatal Offences Against the Person covers

Unlawful killing: murder, the partial defences that reduce it, and the two forms of involuntary manslaughter.

Where it is assessed

Component 1

Criminal law, Section B of the first paper.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Numbers

What three components must be satisfied for loss of control?

Process

What four elements must the defendant establish for diminished responsibility?

Key term

If a defendant was voluntarily intoxicated when committing a killing, what offence might they still be convicted of and why?

Key term

What are the elements of unlawful act manslaughter?

Numbers

What are the elements of gross negligence manslaughter?

Key term

Why is consent generally ineffective as a defence to murder or serious assault causing death?

Key term

How is murder defined at common law?

Key term

What must be proved for the actus reus of murder?

Numbers

Which statute and section govern diminished responsibility?

Take Fatal Offences Against the Person further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

Murder vs Voluntary manslaughter
Murder: unlawful killing with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. Voluntary manslaughter: a killing with that intent reduced by a partial defence.
Loss of control vs Diminished responsibility
Loss of control: a partial defence requiring a qualifying trigger and a loss of self-control. Diminished responsibility: a partial defence requiring an abnormality of mental functioning from a recognised condition.
Unlawful act manslaughter vs Gross negligence manslaughter
Unlawful act manslaughter: death caused by a dangerous criminal act. Gross negligence manslaughter: death caused by a breach of a duty of care falling far below the expected standard.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
How is murder defined at common law?
Model answer
The unlawful killing of a human being under the King's (Queen's) peace with malice aforethought, express or implied (Coke's classic definition).
2
What must be proved for the actus reus of murder?
Model answer
An unlawful killing, by act or omission, of a human being (a reasonable creature in being), occurring under the King's peace, which the defendant factually and legally caused.
3
When is a killing not 'unlawful' for the purposes of murder?
Model answer
Where it is legally justified, for example killing using reasonable force in lawful self-defence, or the lawful killing of an enemy combatant during war.
4
What is meant by a 'reasonable creature in being'?
Model answer
A living human being. A foetus in the womb is not yet a legal person, so killing a foetus cannot be murder (Attorney-General's Reference (No 3 of 1994)).
5
What is the test for factual causation in murder?
Model answer
The 'but for' test: but for the defendant's conduct, would the victim have died as and when they did (R v White 1910).
6
What is the test for legal causation?
Model answer
The defendant's conduct must be a substantial and operating cause of death; it need not be the sole or main cause (R v Smith 1959).

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Civil Courts and Other Forms of Dispute Resolution

Criminal Courts and Lay People

Legal Personnel

Access to Justice

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Fatal Offences Against the Person revision questions

What does Fatal Offences Against the Person cover in OCR A-Level Law?: 4 subtopics: murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and defences and evaluating fatal offences. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Fatal Offences Against the Person organised?: By the OCR H418 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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