Murder is the
one of the popular offense. Its history can be traced far back from the origin of
human civilization. Murder is termed to be against the law of man and the law
of God. On another hand, manslaughter might not be a new term to you (I will
explain it in the course of showing the difference). It is something closely related
to the murder. What differentiates murder and manslaughter in the eyes of law? I
urge you to read further to find the answer.
The following
are the difference between murder and manslaughter in the eyes of the law
1. Meaning and ingredients of Murder and Manslaughter
In technical
terms murder is causing the death of another with malice aforethought by an
unlawful act or omission. In simple terms, murder is killing with intention.
While Manslaughter is causing the death of another by an unlawful act or
omission without malice aforethought. In simple terms, manslaughter is killing
with no intention.
Therefore the first
difference between manslaughter and murder is the absence of malice
aforethought/intention in manslaughter and presence of it is murder.
The question
which might come to your mind now is how can a person kill without an
intention? In the eyes of the law, it is possible.
A person is termed
to kill without malice aforethought in the following circumstances
>When a
person kill out of the disease of mind/insanity
>When a person
kill under duress/coercion
>When a
person Kill under the influence of drugs/intoxication
> When a
person kill out of provocation
>etc.
I have covered
about insanity, duress, intoxication, and provocation on Criminal law defenses that you may raise in a criminal case
Generally, the line
between murder and manslaughter is very narrow. That line is drawn by ascertaining
the intention of the offender. The intention of the offender can be obtained by
looking at the circumstance of the offense.
Example
When A intentionally
wants to kill B by shooting. Accidently B escape and the bullet shot C and
died. Here A will be liable of Murder of C regardless his intention was to kill
B. it doesn’t matter whether the person intended to be killed is the one
actually killed or not. This situation is technically known as ‘the Doctrine of
Transferred Malice’.
The above
example emphasizes the importance of intention in offense of murder and
manslaughter.
2. Punishment of Murder and Manslaughter
This is the second thing that differentiates murder and manslaughter. The punishment of
Murder is death by hanging while the punishment of Manslaughter may be
imprisonment for certain years or for life. However, the death penalty has
received mass critics and some countries have abolished it.
3. Bail on Murder and Manslaughter
In Tanzania and
most common law countries Murder is not bailable but manslaughter is bailable.
Conclusion
This article revealed
the major difference between murder and manslaughter. It explained that the main
difference between murder and manslaughter is intention.
Do you agree
with the death penalty? Comment below
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this post useful. Share this post to spread this knowledge with others
The following is
another legal issue which you might be interested to read
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