FDY3014 Rights and Responsibilities Law Essay Example

1.0 Introduction of FDY3014 Rights and Responsibilities Law Essay Example

The law Commission takes the initiative for the proposal of the 3-tier system especially for the homicide offence of 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder and Manslaughter murder. The structure of the two-tier homicide offence indicates manslaughter and murder. Manslaughter represents the general intent type of crime where one person kills other human beings without committing malicious activities. On the other hand, murder is an unlawful killing with the taking of malice aforethought . Therefore, the government takes the necessary steps to propose several changes to the homicide law “Ministry of Justice, July 2008”. Therefore, the key issue is to identify the impact of the new proposal 3-tier Commission law” with the current 2-tier homicide offence structure.

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2.0 Discussion

The proposal of a three-tier structure of homicide offence provides general guidance for the homicide offence in three stages 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder and the 3rd degree murder. The commission provisionally proposed the nature of the “first-degree murder is related to an intentional killing. However, the report of 2006, proposed that intent killing can cause serious injuries and death. Different types of changes are proposed by the governments for infanticide, murder and manslaughter. Application of the Homicide Act 1957 is applied for the reform and penalty death for the homicide law. The homicide law is considered the most serious offence due to its serious restrictions and liberty . Therefore, reform of the homicide law helps to replace the traditional division and concepts of manslaughter or murder with a 3-tier kind of system.

2.1 Proposal of the Commission law (3-tier structure of general homicide)

The proposal of the 3-tier structure of 1st-degree murder, manslaughter, 2nd-degree murder replaced the traditional concepts of general homicide. The commission also proposed another aspect of the homicide law of provocation, complicity and diminished responsibility. It is also identified that the present provocation is settled under the “Attorney-general v Holley [2005] UKPC 23”. Therefore, both types of partial defense effects are reduced for the 2nd-degree and the 1st-degree murder.

2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of 3-tier structure of Homicide Law

The commission also proposed a reformed structure for homicide regarding diminished responsibility and provocation. In this situation, the provocation is replaced with serious killing where the defendant has a fear of serious violence. The proposals of the commissions were retained largely . Therefore, this law provides consistency and clarity with differentiations of different types of offences and fair sentencing. However, the complexity, limited flexibility and the rigidness is the key disadvantages of the implementation of this 3-tier structure” of the Homicide Law.

2.3 Criticism of the 2-tier Homicide Law

The voluntary manslaughter and the murder in Wales and England gradually developed over the last few decades. However, the 2-tier structure” of the homicide is criticized for several reasons of the moral distinctions between the diminished responsibility under killing and the murder, complexity and absence of clarity, narrowness and broad characteristics of the manslaughter and the murder . Therefore, the Commission law first proposed the holistic approaches of 3-tier homicide offences” which gives a clear advantage of proper reflection of degrees of fault”. The detailed description of the reform homicide law is discussed as follows. 1st-degree murder The commission identified the murder as unlawful homicide activity which is associated with the “malice aforethought”. The guilty act is considered unlawful due to human death. Under this segment, the procedure has the role of establishing legal and factual causation. Legal actions also claimed the significant reasons for the cause of victims' death. Most of the time the causations faced a few problems due to multiple injuries. Therefore, the Homicide Act 1957 is either implied or informed of express . The murderer can also convicted without intending to kill the victim and the act. This type of situation leads the problems for further complications and penalty problems for imprisonment life. Therefore, 1st-degree murder represents unlawful killing which represents intentional and premeditated activities. This type of murder is considered the most serious type of murder. The punishment of the mandatory kind of life sentence is the punishment for the “1st-degree murder”. The “case laws of 1957 case R. v. Vickers” is a popular case law under this “1st-degree murder” under the Wales and England Court. In this case, the cellar was broken by Vickers in 1957 for stealing the money. However, during the stealing time, Vickers attracts Miss Duckkett who lived above that store. It is identified no scratches were left on was face of Duckett. 2nd-degree murder The “2nd-degree murder” is another type of unlawful killing which is effected for serious harm. Therefore, unlawful killings are caused by injuries which create some serious injuries or death. Therefore, the penalty of “2nd-degree murder” indicates the discretionary of a life sentence. The “2nd-degree murder” is the below level of the “1st-degree murder”. The “R v Woolin, 1998” is a popular case law that represents the “2nd-degree murder”. In this present case law, the defender lost their temperament and threw his son onto a rough surface for which the head injuries happened and led to serious death. In that case, the “House of Lords” was convicted of murder with manslaughter. Manslaughter On the other hand, the manslaughter offence covers unlawful homicide activities instead of murder. “Voluntary manslaughter” refers to the situation of murder where the defendant can rely upon some special defense. Therefore, “voluntary Manslaughter” includes the “loss of control”, and is replaced with provocation law. This is criticized by the female victims of domestic violence. Therefore, in that situation, the defender claims the “loss of control situation . There are two types of manslaughter “involuntary and voluntary manslaughter. The R v Adomako, (1994) is the popular case law under the” gross negligence type of manslaughter test” arose due to criminal negligence. This case explained the breach of duty, actual death”, “and serious risk of death”, and the “criminal act. The R v Church, (1966) is another popular case law that is categorized under unlawful act of manslaughter. In the following case laws, Mr. Church is the victim who knocked the key victim for the fight.

3.0 Conclusion

The “Commission Law” first introduced the “3-tier structure” for the homicide offence and replaced the existing homicide law of the “2-tier structure” of the homicide offence. Therefore, need the reform the existing homicide law to provide a flexible approach. Therefore, the adoption of the “3-tier structure” consists of both the disadvantages and the advantages. The continuous increase of the complexity and the unintended consequences increase the serious concerns for the Commission laws.

Reference

Journals

• Flynn, S. et al. (2020) ‘Mental disorder in people convicted of homicide: Long-term national trends in rates and court outcome’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 218(4), pp. 210–216. doi:10.1192/bjp.2020.94.
• Fortson, R. (2021) ‘Partial defences to murder: Changed landscape and nomenclature’, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 72(2). doi:10.53386/nilq.v72i2.897.
• Lilienthal, G. and Ahmad, N. (2022) ‘Criminal intent and the ruthless risk-taker’, European Journal of Law Reform, 24(2), pp. 218–241. doi:10.5553/ejlr/138723702022024002004.
• Mechanic, M.B. (2024) ‘Battered women charged with homicide: Expert consultation, Evaluation, and testimony’, Women Who Kill, pp. 207–230. doi:10.4324/9781003423041-17.

Website

• Justice (2015) Homicide law reform, JUSTICE. Available at: https://justice.org.uk/homicide-law-reform/#:~:text=What%20did%20the%20Law%20Commission,with%20a%20discretionary%20life%20sentence). (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
• Ltd, A.A. (2024) Sample undergraduate 2:1 law assignment, Sample Undergraduate 2:1 Law Assignment. Available at: https://www.lawteacher.net/services/samples/2-1-criminal-law-assignment.php (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
•  Flynn, S. et al. (2020) ‘Mental disorder in people convicted of homicide: Long-term national trends in rates and court outcome’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 218(4), pp. 210–216. doi:10.1192/bjp.2020.94.
•  Fortson, R. (2021) ‘Partial defences to murder: Changed landscape and nomenclature’, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 72(2). doi:10.53386/nilq.v72i2.897.
• Lilienthal, G. and Ahmad, N. (2022) ‘Criminal intent and the ruthless risk-taker’, European Journal of Law Reform, 24(2), pp. 218–241. doi:10.5553/ejlr/138723702022024002004.
• Mechanic, M.B. (2024) ‘Battered women charged with homicide: Expert consultation, Evaluation, and testimony’, Women Who Kill, pp. 207–230. doi:10.4324/9781003423041-17.
• Justice (2015) Homicide law reform, JUSTICE. Available at: https://justice.org.uk/homicide-law-reform/#:~:text=What%20did%20the%20Law%20Commission,with%20a%20discretionary%20life%20sentence). (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
• Ltd, A.A. (2024) Sample undergraduate 2:1 law assignment, Sample Undergraduate 2:1 Law Assignment. Available at: https://www.lawteacher.net/services/samples/2-1-criminal-law-assignment.php (Accessed: 25 September 2024).

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