Murder

For other uses, see Murder (disambiguation).

Template:Globalize/Northern Murder is the unlawful killing of one human being by another. Murder is generally distinguished from other forms of homicide by the elements of malice, aforethought, and the lack of justification. All jurisdictions, ancient and modern, consider it a most serious crime. Most jurisdictions impose a severe penalty for its commission.

Sometimes murder is used to describe what is really a homicide. While the two terms are related, they are not synonymous. Relatively few homicides are murders in law. Also, police will often call their investigation into a murder a homicide investigation in order not to prejudice any findings of the investigation, possible charges that could be laid, or any conviction of an offender. However, the crime will normally be identified as a murder once there is sufficient evidence to indicate that a murder is the more likely crime than any other. In most jurisdictions murder entails intent (e.g. planning), lack of a lawful excuse (e.g. self defense or insanity) and malice (e.g. not just surgery gone wrong).

Origins

Background

In Abrahamic religions, the prohibition against murder is one of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. (Exodus: 20v13) (Deuteronomy 5v17) (See Murder in the Bible.) Interestingly, the Vulgate, and subsequent early English translations of the bible, uses the word kill rather than murder. In recent times, biblical scholars have identified and corrected this discrepancy in modern biblical translations. Consequently, Christian churches have some doctrinal differences about what forms of homicide are prohibited biblically, though all agree murder is.

Common law

According to Blackstone, English common law identified murder as a Public Wrong.

Codification

When, after democratic reform in various jurisdictions, legislatures began passing statutes, the crime of murder was often formally codified.

Legal definition

As with most legal terms, the precise definition of murder varies between jurisdictions and is usually codified in some form of legislation.

In some jurisdictions, murder is a common law crime, considered so wrong that there is no need for any legislation to define it. In such jurisdictions, precedent Case law or previous decisions of the Courts of Law defines what is considered murder.

Basic elements

In common law jurisdictions, murder has two elements or parts:

1. the act (actus reus) of killing a person
2. the state of mind (mens rea) of intentional, purposeful, malicious, premeditated, and/or wanton.

Murder is often expressed as the unlawful killing of another human being with "malice aforethought". However, the element of malice may not be required in every jurisdiction, though intent normally is required. For example french definition of Murder doesn't contain the element of malice (see bellow).

• The element of malice aforethought can be satisfied by an intentional killing, which is considered express malice.
• Malice can also be implied: deaths that occur by extreme recklessness or during certain serious crimes are considered to be express malice murders.

Exclusions

• Unlawful killings without malice or intent are considered manslaughter.
• Justified or accidental killings are considered homicides. Depending on the circumstances, these may or may not be considered criminal offenses.
• Suicide is not considered murder in most societies. Because the offender and the victim being one and the same precludes a fair trial of the offender, however, assisting a suicide may be considered murder in some circumstances.
• Capital punishment ordered by a legitimate court of law as the result of a conviction in a criminal trial with due process for a serious crime.
• Killing of enemy combatants in accordance with lawful orders in war, although illicit killings within a war may constitute murder or homicidal war crimes. (see the Laws of war article)

Victim

All jurisdictions require that the victim be a natural person; that is a human being that was still alive at the time of being murdered. Most jurisdictions legally distinguish killing a fetus or unborn child as a different crime, such as illegal abortion of a fetus or the unlawful killing of an unborn child. The distinction between a fetus and an unborn child in these jurisdictions is that a child could survive if it had been born, while a fetus could not.

Mitigating circumstances

Some countries allow conditions that "affect the balance of the mind" to be regarded as mitigating circumstances. This means that a person may be found guilty of "manslaughter" on the basis of "diminished responsibility" rather than murder, if it can be proved that the killer was suffering from a condition that affected their judgment at the time. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and medication side-effects are examples of conditions that may be taken into account when assessing responsibility.

Insanity

Mental disorder may apply to a wide range of disorders including psychosis caused by schizophrenia and dementia, and excuse the person from the need to undergo the stress of a trial as to liability. In some jurisdictions, following the pre-trial hearing to determine the extent of the disorder, the defense of "not guilty by reason of insanity" may be used to get a not guilty verdict. This defense has two elements:

1. That the defendant had a serious mental illness, disease, or defect.
2. That the defendant's mental condition, at the time fo the killing, rendered the perpetrator unable to determine right from wrong, or that what he or she was doing was wrong.

Under New York law, for example:

§ 40.15 Mental disease or defect. In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense that when the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct, he lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect. Such lack of criminal responsibility means that at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacked substantial capacity to know or appreciate either: 1. The nature and consequences of such conduct; or 2. That such conduct was wrong.

Under France Penal Code:

ARTICLE 122-1

• A person is not criminally liable who, when the act was committed, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which destroyed his discernment or his ability to control his actions.
• A person who, at the time he acted, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which reduced his discernment or impeded his ability to control his actions, remains punishable; however, the court shall take this into account when it decides the penalty and determines its regime.

Those who successfully argue a defense based on a mental disorder are usually referred to mandatory clinical treatment until they are certified safe to be released back into the community, rather than prison.

Post-partum depression

Some countries, such as Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, allow post-partum depression (also known as post-natal depression) as a defense against murder of a child by a mother, provided that a child is less than a year old (this may be the specific offense of infanticide rather than murder and include the effects of lactation and other aspects of post-natal care).

Self defense

Acting in self defense or in defense of another person is generally accepted as legal justifications for killing a person in situations that would otherwise have been murder. However, a self defense killing might be considered manslaughter if the killer established control of the situation before the killing took place.

Unintentional

For a killing to be considered murder, there normally needs to be an element of intent. For this argument to be successful the killer generally needs to demonstrate that they took precautions not to kill and that the death could not have been anticipated or was unavoidable, whatever action they took. As a general rule, Manslaughter constitutes reckless killing, while criminally negligent homicide is a grossly negligent killing.

Diminished capacity

In those jurisdictions using the Uniform Penal Code, such as California, diminished capacity may be a defense. For example, Dan White used this defense to obtain a manslaughter conviction, instead of murder, in the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Year-and-a-day rule

Main article: Year and a day rule

In some common law jurisdictions, a defendant accused of murder is not guilty if the victim survives for longer than one year and one day after the attack. This reflects the likelihood that if the victim dies, other factors will have contributed to the cause of death, breaking the chain of causation. Subject to any statute of limitations, the accused could still be charged with an offense representing the seriousness of the initial assault.

Abolition of the rule

With advances in modern medicine, most countries have abandoned a fixed time period and test causation on the facts of the case.

In the UK, due to medical advancements, the "year-and-a-day-rule" is no longer in use. However, if the death occurs three years after the original attack, then the Attorney-General's approval/permission will need to be granted before prosecutions can take place after a three year period has expired.

In the United States, many jurisdictions have abolished the rule as well. Abolition of the rule has been accomplished by enactment of statutory criminal codes, which had the effect of displacing the common-law definitions of crimes and corresponding defenses. In 2001, the Supreme Court of the United States held that retroactive application of a state supreme court decision abolishing the year-and-a-day rule did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of Article I of the United States Constitution.

Demographics

An estimated 520,000 people were murdered in 2000 around the globe. Two-fifths of them were young people between the ages of 10 and 29 who were killed by other young people.

Murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004

Murder rates vary greatly among countries and societies around the world. In the Western world, murder rates in most countries have declined significantly during the 20th century and are now between 1-4 cases per 100,000 people per year. Murder rates in Japan, Ireland and Iceland are among the lowest in the world, around 0.5; the rate of the United States is among the highest of developed countries, around 5.5 (2004, [1]), with rates in larger cities sometimes over 40 per 100,000[2].

Within the Western world, nearly 90% of all murders are committed by males, with males also being the victims of 74.6% of murders (according the US Department of Justice). There is a sharp peak in the age distribution of murderers between the ages of 17 and 30. People become decreasingly likely to commit a murder as they age. Incidents of children and adolescents committing murders are also extremely rare, notwithstanding the strong media coverage such cases receive.

There are an estimated 55,000 murders in Brazil every year, about 30,000 murders committed annually in Russia, approximately 25,000 murders in Colombia (in 2005, murders went down to 15,000), approximately 20,000 murders each year in South Africa, approximately 15,000 murders in Mexico, approximately 14,000 murders in the United States (666,160 murders from 1960 to 1996), approximately 11,000 murders in Venezuela, approximately 6,000 murders in El Salvador, approximately 1,600 murders in Jamaica, approximately 1000 murders in France, approximately 500 murders per year in Canada, and approximately 200 murders in Chile. The murder rate in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) is 23 times that of London.

Murder demographics are affected by the improvement of trauma care, leading to reduced lethality of violent assaults - thus the murder rate may not necessarily indicate the overall level of social violence.

Development of murder rates over time in different countries is often used by both supporters and opponents of capital punishment and gun control. Using properly filtered data, it is possible to make the case for or against either of these issues. For example, one could look at murder rates in the United States from 1950 to 2000 [3] and notice that those rates went up sharply shortly after a moratorium on death sentences was effectively imposed in the late 1960s. This fact has been used to argue that capital punishment serves as a deterrent and, as such, it is morally justified. Capital punishment opponents frequently counter that the United States has much higher murder rates than Canada and most European Union countries, although all those countries have abolished the death penalty. Gun control advocates further point out that, unlike the United States, many European countries disallow gun ownership by private citizens but Switzerland has the least restrictive firearm laws and corresponding higher gun murder deaths. Canada introduced a comprehensive Firearms Certificate program in 1977, which was followed by a sharp decline in its homicide rate (and its firearm homicide rate) however firearm homicide rates have crept back up to pre-1977 levels by 2005 even though the overall rate remains less.

Overall, the global pattern is too complex and, on average, the influence of both these factors may not be significant and could be more social, economic and cultural.

Country-specific murder law

Australia

Murder is defined in the New South Wales (NSW) Crimes Act 1900 as follows:

SECTION 18 1) a) Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime...

Under NSW law, the maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment with a standard non-parole period of 20 years. Attempted murder (sections 27-30 of the Crimes Act) attracts a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. Note that in order to be guilty of murder under the NSW Crimes Act, intent to cause grievous bodily harm is enough to secure a conviction for murder, as is 'felony murder' (constructive murder in Australia).

There is a statutory defence of provocation in NSW law - Section 23 of the Crimes Act, if provocation is proven and the person would have otherwise been convicted of murder, directs the jury to find the defendant not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. However, this is not the case in Victoria - the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC), in Section 3B, states:

The rule of law that provocation reduces the crime of murder to manslaughter is abolished.

Under Victorian law, it is illegal to kill, by unlawful means, an unborn child that is capable of being born alive. This offence is termed 'child destruction' in the Act. For example, if Person A assaulted Person B with intent to kill B's unborn child, Person A is guilty of child destruction and assault - and thus would be liable, under Victorian law to 15 years imprisonment for child destruction plus 5 years imprisonment for assault.

In any legislature within Australia, the maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment. NSW law follows the 'life means life' construction ; therefore the maximum sentence is life without possibility of parole.

Canada

As defined in the Criminal Code of Canada, murder is considered one type of culpable homicide, distinguished from the offences of manslaughter or infanticide.

In Canada, murder is classified as first or second degree.

1. First degree murder is a murder which is (1) planned and deliberate, (2) contracted, (3) where the victim is an identified peace officer (4) in the furtherance of another serious criminal offence (kidnapping, robbery, harassment, terrorist activity, or using explosives within criminal organizations, etc.).
2. Second degree murder is all murder which is not First degree.

Formerly, certain types of killings were also deemed to be murder, regardless of lack of intent (eg. where death was caused in the course of committing of a serious crime, such as sexual assault). However, these so-called "constructive" murder provisions have, by and large, been repealed or struck down on constitutional grounds.

1. Manslaughter is any culpable homicide which is not murder or infanticide.

1. Infanticide is the killing of a newly-born child by its mother where the mother's mind was disturbed as a result of giving birth or of consequent lactation is a type of homicide but is excluded from murder.

The maximum penalties for murder are:

1. first degree murder - mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years (can be paroled under the Faint-Hope Clause after 15 years imprisonment, but such a reduction is rarely given and is not available for multiple murders)
2. second degree murder - mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 10-25 years (parole eligibility determined by the judge at sentencing) (exception: if the person had committed another murder in their past, parole eligibility is 25 years)

There is a clause where persons convicted of any "personal injury offence" meeting the statutory criteria to be declared a "dangerous offender." A dangerous offender is sentenced for an indeterminate period of imprisonment and is eligible for parole after serving at least 7 years. An offender convicted of 1st or 2nd degree murder is ineligble to be declared a dangerous offender. However, an offender convicted of manslaughter can be declared a dangerous offender.

Any sentence imposed in addition to a life sentence must be concurrent.

For every murder in Canada there are about 1.5 attempted murders. Attempted murder carries the same consequences as murder itself; it is the intent, not the result, that determines the sentence.

In 2006 the homicide rate in Canada was 1.9 per 100,000 people or approximately 650 homicides per year. The rate has remained close to stable for the past 10 years. This is equivalent to numbers in most of the western world, except the U.S. which has almost triple the number per capita. The main methods of murder in Canada are shootings (30%), stabbings (30%), and beatings (22%).

About one in three Canadian murders are committed by a family member. One in eight is gang related. About 80% of murderers in Canada are caught within a year.

Finland

In Finland, murder is defined as homicide with at least one of four aggravating factors:

1. Deliberate intent
2. Exceptional brutality or cruelty
3. Significantly endangering public safety
4. Committed against a public official engaged in enforcing the law.

Further, the offence considered as a whole must be aggravated. A murder doesn't expire.

The only possible punishment for murder is life imprisonment. Typically, the prisoner will be pardoned by the President after serving 12 to 14 years of his sentence, but this is not automatic.

In jurisprudence, the comparison of an actual crime against "especially brutal or cruel way"-standard has been understood to mean comparison to "usual" homicide cases. In recent cases, the Finnish Supreme Court has not considered a single axe stroke on the head, or strangulation to be "especially brutal or cruel". On the other hand, causing death by jumping on a person's chest and head and firing over 10 times upon a person's torso have been considered to fulfill the standard.

The only sentence for murder is life in prison. Until 2006, this meant an actual life sentence which could be pardoned only by the president. However, since the 1960s presidents have regularly given pardons to practically all offenders after a period of 12-15 years. In 2006, the legislation was changed so that all life sentences are reviewed by an appellate court after they have been executed for 12 years. If the convict is still deemed a danger to society, his case will be reviewed every two years after this. Involuntary confinement to a psychiatric institution may also result, sometimes after the sentence is served. The involuntary treatment ends when the psychiatrist decides so, or when a court decrees it no longer necessary in a periodical review.

If the pre-requisites are not fulfilled, but the homicide has been deliberate and pre-meditated, the convict is sentenced for second degree murder (tappo) to a minimum of eight years in prison. There is also the crime of voluntary manslaughter (surma), which is a homicide under mitigating/extenuating circumstances, with the punishment of four to ten years. Involuntary manslaughter (kuolemantuottamus) has a maximum punishment of two years of imprisonment or fine (see day fine). Infanticide carries a punishment of at least four months and at most four years in prison.

France

In the French Penal Code murder is defined by the intentional killing of another person. There is no distinction between murder and manslaughter and both are punished by a minimum of 1 year (seen in case of euthanasia) up to a maximum of 30 years of criminal imprisonment.

Assassination (murder with premeditation), and in special case (if the victim is under 15, parents, child, people with disabilities, police officer etc.) are punished by a jail time up to life imprisonment. In France except for recidivist the minimum sentence in criminal prosecution is one year of imprisonment, imprisonment which may be suspended if the term of the sentence is under 5 years.

Germany

In Germany the term Mord (murder) is officially used for the intentional killing of another person, but only if the case is especially severe. The requirements can be read in § 211 of the German criminal law, Strafgesetzbuch (StGB).

I. The murderer shall be punished with imprisonment for life.

II. A murderer is, whoever kills a human being out of murderous lust, to satisfy his sexual desires, from greed or otherwise base motives,(1) treacherously or cruelly or with means dangerous to the public or

in order to commit or to cover up another crime.

— German criminal law, Strafgesetzbuch (StGB), § 211.

Those qualifying circumstances are categorized into three groups: 1 group: detestable motive 2 group: detestable way of committing the crime 3 group. detestable purpose/aim of the criminal.

Intentional killing that isn't murder usually fulfills § 212 (Totschlag = killing: similar to second-degree murder, however actually any case of killing that is not fulfilling the qualifications of murder as seen above - actually the same as Tötung (killing) in Swiss law).

The current form of § 211 StGB was created in the year 1941. Before that the differentiation between Mord (murder) and Totschlag (killing) was, that Mord was killing "with premeditation" ("mit Überlegung" - directly translated: with consideration, however that is just another legal word for the same concept) and Totschlag without (1871-1941). However this differentiation was considered too vague. The reform was orientated on discussions for the reform of the Swiss StGB, which also had the same differentiation. It took over the idea and mainly also the wording of the reform commission for the Swiss StGB headed by Stoss in 1896. With this version, the differentiation between Mord and Totschlag contains problems. This led to ongoing discussions in the legal community about the wording, the interpretation and also about a reform of the law.

If the victim of a killing earnestly wanted to be killed (for example, when suffering an incurable disease) the crime would be Tötung auf Verlangen (killing on demand, § 216 StGB) which would result in 6 months to 5 years in prison (usually suspended) – basically, mercy killing. In 2002, there was a cannibal case in which the offender, Armin Meiwes, claimed that the victim wanted to be killed. The court convicted him of "Totschlag", since they didn't see the qualifications of a murder. Both prosecution and defense appealed, the prosecution in order to reach a guilty of murder verdict, the defense in order to reduce the charge to killing on demand. The German "Bundesgerichtshof", the highest German court of appeal, eventually convicted him of murder.

If the killing was due to negligence it is punished according to § 222 StGB as fahrlässige Tötung (negligent homicide or manslaughter). Many cases in this field are car accidents due to negligence that result in the death of a person.

If the death is a negligent consequence of an intended act of violence, it is classified as Körperverletzung mit Todesfolge (injury resulting in death).

The penalty for Mord is lifelong imprisonment, which is usually suspended after 17-18 years (15 years minimum) on a probation of 5 years or if the court decided on a special gravity (Feststellung der besonderen Schwere der Schuld), the sentence can only be suspended much later, earliest after 18 years but usually after 22-23 years (the law states that a suspension after 15 years is not possible for "special gravity" crimes, but provides no explicit minimum served time). The penalty for Totschlag is five to fifteen years in prison and in especially grave cases life time imprisonment (minimum sentence 15 years). Especially grave cases are very rare, because usually such case already fall under Mord (§ 211). In lesser cases ("minderschwerer Fall", § 213) the prison sentence is one to ten years. The law itself gives one example for a minor case: the killing due to the provocation of the killed person, e.g. if the killed person has beaten him or one of his relatives or has severely insulted them and the killer acted under the influence of great anger. The lesser case of Totschlag is similar.

German criminal law also knows the institute of the felony murder which also carries a life-long sentence, however only if a person is intentionally or negligently killed in the course of a robbery, a kidnapping or a sexual assault. Actually only if the killing was intended by the criminal it is called murder. Intention also includes cases very the criminal knows, that the victim could die, if he simply takes that into account for other purposes. If the killing was due to gross negligence the criminal can be punished for robbery with deadly outcome (Raub mit Todesfolge) according to § 251. The punishent is a lifetime prison sentence or a prison sentence not below 10 years. The same applies for rape with deadly outcome (§ 178: Vergewaltigung mit Todesfolge) and other crimes.

Noteworthy is also that (attempted) suicide and therefore aiding and abetting a person intent on killing himself is not punishable by German criminal law.

Before 1949 the usual punishment for Mord (§ 211) in Germany was capital punishment, except in less severe cases.But due to the Nazi mass murders and death sentences, it was abolished in West Germany in 1949 when Germany's constitution, the Grundgesetz, came into use. In East Germany the death penalty was abolished in 1987. After the 1950s it was very rarely used.

Israel

Israel had 173 murders in 2004, compared to 147 murders in 2000.

There are five types of homicide in Israel:

1. Murder - The premeditated killing of a person, or the intentional killing of a person whilst committing, preparing for, or escaping from any crime, is murder. The mandatory punishment for this crime is life imprisonment. Life is usually commuted (clemency from the President) to 30 years from which a third can be deducted by the parole board for good behaviour. Arab Militants are not usually granted pardons or parole other than as part of deals with Arab militant organizations or foreign governments and in exchange for captured Israelis (or their bodies).
2. Reduced sentence murder - If the murderer did not fully understand his actions because of mental defect (but not legal insanity or imbecility), or in circumstances close to self-defence, necessity or duress or where the murderer suffered from serious mental distress because of long-term abuse, the court can give a sentence of less than life.
3. Manslaughter - The deliberate killing of a person without premeditation (or the other circumstances of murder) is manslaughter for which the maximum sentence is 20 years.
4. Negligent killing or vehicular killing - Maximum sentence is 3 years (minimum of 11 months for the driver).
5. Infanticide - A mother kills her baby of less than 12 months and could show she was suffering from the effects of the birth or breast-feeding. Maximum sentence is 5 years.

Italy

By Italian law, murder (omicidio) is regulated by articles 575-582, 584-585, and 589 of the Penal Code (Codice Penale). In general, according to Art.575, "whoever causes the death of a human being is punishable by no less than 21 years in prison"; nevertheless, the law indicates a series of circumstances under which murder has to be punished with life in prison.

It must also be noted that, according to Italian law, any sentence of more than 5 years perpetually deprives (Interdizione perpetua dai Pubblici Uffici) the condemned person of: the voting rights; the ability to exercise any public office; the ability to be employed in any governmental or para-statal position (articles 19, 28, 29). The convict for life is also deprived of his/her quality of parent: the children are either given in custody to the other parent or hosted in a public structure (art.32).

In detail, according to articles 576 and 577 is punishable with life imprisonment murder committed:

1. In order to commit another crime, or in order to escape, of favor, or take advantage from another crime (art.61, sect.2);
2. Against a next of kin (parent or child) and either through insidious means, with premeditation, cruelly, of for futile motives;
3. By a fugitive in order to escape capture, or in order to acquire means of subsistence;
4. While raping or sexually assaulting a person (articles 519, 520, 521).
5. In a cruel way and/or through the use of torture (art.61, sect.1);
6. For abject and/or futile motives (art.61, sect.4);
7. Against a next of kin (parent or child);
8. Through insidious means;
9. With premeditation.

Cases 1 through 4 (art.576) used to be considered capital murder, and therefore punishable by death by firing squad. Since 1946, though, death penalty was discontinued in Italy, and death was substituted with life imprisonment . Sentences for murder under cases 5 through 9 (art.577). instead, are subject to parole or probation.A person that is serving a life sentence can reach libertà condizionata

Besides the criminal murder detailed above, in Italian law the following cases also exist:

1. Infanticide - (Infanticidio in condizioni di abbandono materiale e morale), murder of the infant immediately following the birth committed by the mother who is in conditions of material or moral disorder, is punishable with a sentence between 4 and 12 years (art. 578).
2. Killing on demand - (Omicidio del consenziente), the action to kill someone with his/her consent, is punishable with a sentence between 6 and 15 years. This, however, is considered murder if the victim, when giving his/her consent, was under the age of 18, intoxicated, mentally disable, or if the consent was obtained through violence, menace, or deception (art.579).
3. Assistance or instigation of suicide - (Istigazione o aiuto al suicidio), the action to help someone to commit suicide, or to convince someone to commit suicide, is punishable with a sentence between 5 and 12 years if the suicide succeeds, or between 1 and 5 years if it does not succeed but a body injury has been made. This , however, is considered murder if the suicide is under the age of 14 (art.580).
4. Injury resulting in death - (Omicidio preterintenzionale) occurs when, as a result of a deliberated act of violence not meant to kill (articles 581,582), the death of a person occurs. This crime is punishable with a sentence between 10 and 18 years (art.584). This sentence can be increased from one third to one half (up to 27 years) if a circumstance stated by articles 576 and 577 occurs, or if a weapon is used (art.585).
5. Manslaughter - (Omicidio colposo), the action of causing the death of a person without intention, is punished with a sentence between 6 months and 5 years. If the victims are more than one as a consequence of the same act, multiple counts can be added up to 12 years in prison (art.589).

The Netherlands

By Dutch law, murder (moord) is punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, which is the longest prison sentence the law allows. A common misconception is that the maximum sentence is 30 years (20 until 2006): this is the longest sentence that can be imposed other than life imprisonment. However, a life sentence is only imposed under special circumstances, such as multiple murders or prior convictions. The average sentence is 12 to 15 years. In addition to a prison sentence, the judge may sentence the suspect to TBS, or 'terbeschikkingstelling', meaning detention in a psychiatric institution, sometimes including forced treatment. TBS is imposed for a number of years (most often in relation to the severity of the crime) and thereafter prolonged if deemed necessary by a committee of psychiatrists. This can be done indefinitely, and has therefore been criticized as being a life sentence in disguise. Voluntary manslaughter (doodslag) is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years, or life imprisonment when committed during the commission of a crime or as an act of terrorism. Involuntary manslaughter (dood door schuld) is punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years. If involuntary manslaughter is caused by recklessness, the maximum sentence that can be imposed is four years.

Norway

In Norway any act of murder (mord or drap) is generally split into three categories; planned murder, intentional murder or murder as a result of neglect.

Categories of murder

1. Planned murder or First Degree Murder - (overlagt drap) is a murder committed with the intention of taking the life of another, by a person fully sane and aware of what he/she is doing, and having planned the act of murder ahead. Planned murder is punished with up to 21 years of imprisonment. Under special circumstances, like a murder of severe cruelty, or if there is reason to believe the offender may commit murder again, additional years of imprisonment can be given.[4] This usually takes place at a court hearing near the end of the sentence.
2. Intentional murder or Second Degree Murder -(forsettlig drap) is a murder committed with the intention of taking the life of another, by a person fully sane and aware of what he/she is doing, without the act of murder having been planned ahead. Murder of passion usually falls into this category. Intentional murder is punished by 6 to 12 years of imprisonment. [5]
3. Murder as a result of neglect or Manslaughter - (uaktsomt drap) is defined as a case were someone has been killed as a result of the offenders neglect. For example, a car driver may be convicted for murder if someone is killed as a result of his/her careless driving. Murder as a result of neglect is punishable by 3-6 years, depending on the circumstances. [6]

Other forms of murder

Assisted suicide is generally illegal in Norway, and will in most cases be treated as planned murder, although the punishment may be milder depending on the circumstances.

Euthanasia (aktiv dødshjelp) has been much debated in Norway. Some groups have expressed that it should be legal in cases where the victim is sane and fully aware of what he/she is asking for. Acts of euthanasia, however, are illegal, and are treated as any other form of assisted suicide.

Romania

In Romania as of 2005, there were reported 453 homicide cases, and 231 as of June 2006. According to the Romanian Penal Code, a person can face a penalty ranging from 10 to 25 years or life imprisonment for murder. (There are also mandatory restrictions of some constitutional rights for all types of murder.)

Degrees of murder:

1. Murder - (10 to 20 years) Killing a person when no aggravating circumstances apply.
2. Qualified murder (15 to 25 years) Aggravating circumstances: a)with premeditation b)concerning a material interest c) against spouse or close relative d)taking advantage of victim's impossibility of self-defence e) when putting in danger the lives of multiple persons f)concerning job attributions of the victim g)for facilitating or hiding another crime h)in public
3. Extremely grave murder (15 to 25 years or life imprisonment)

Aggravating circumstances: a)committed in a cruel way b)against two or more persons c)by a person who had already committed a murder d)in order to hide a robbery e)against a pregnant woman f)against a policeman, gendarme, magistrate or soldier (in connection with their public duties)

1. Negligent or accidental murder (1 to 5 years in simple form)

Aggravating circumstances:

1. 1. Caused by a professional in connection with his job for not respecting the legal dispositions (2 to 7 years)
   2. By a vehicle driver with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above legal limits or in a drunk state (5 to 15 years)
   3. By a professional in a drunk state - in connection with his job duties (5 to 15 years)
   4. When causing the death of two or more persons (5 to 15 years)
2. Infanticide (2 to 7 years).

Switzerland

In Switzerland murder (Mord, Assassinat or Assassinio respectively in German, French or Italian) is also used for the premeditated killing of another person, but only if the motives are cruel, disgusting or show an overall disrespect of human life. Penalty ranges from ten years to life in prison. Furthermore, homicide is considered murder if it is cruel (e.g. inflicts great pain on the victim) and/or unusual, done so using explosives or arson, or if it is done to satisfy perverse lusts. Any homicide not meeting these standards is considered to be a killing (Tötung, Meurtre or Omicidio), and the penalty is not as heavy. Most homicides in Switzerland are considered killings, with the penalty ranging from 5 to 20 years.

The Swiss equivalent for manslaughter is Totschlag, Meurtre passionel or Omicidio passionale. Killers are sentenced for Totschlag when they committed the crime in a very, and especially excusable, state of excitement (a "Crime of passion"). For example, a wife who's been mistreated by her husband for years, and kills him in a fit of rage, would be sentenced for Totschlag. The penalty is one to ten years in prison.

There are many other privileged variants of killing, similar to manslaughter, such as killing on demand of the "victim"; or assisted suicide, in which case the punishment is considerably lower; this latter is only punishable if there are selfish motives. The "assisted suicide" in general is not punishable.

The relevant articles of the Swiss Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) are 111 to 117 (and in a certain measure, 118 to 120), which can be read in the Swiss Penal Code, second book, in French , Italian , or German .

United Kingdom

Further information: murder in English law

Statistics show that there were 859 homicides in England and Wales in one year (April 2004- March 2005, [7]). This is low compared to the United States with 16,137 murders in 2004 [8], however these are numbers which do not take different population sizes into account: a better perspective can be gained by comparing murders per year to population (1.6 murders for every hundred thousand people in England and Wales, 5.5 in the USA, and 62 in Colombia - source). Because the newspaper coverage tends to focus on the more lurid or controversial cases (e.g. Tony Martin), there is considerable public misunderstanding as to the actual law. The Law Commission Final Report on Partial Defences to Murder (2004) [9] commissioned research to determine the extent of this misunderstanding and reported at 2.35:

The notion that all murders, as the law is presently framed, represent instances of a uniquely heinous offence for which a single uniquely severe penalty is justified does not reflect the views of a cross section of the public when asked to reflect on particular cases.

Although the sample was small, the research showed that the public accepts a range of culpability within the definition of murder and so rejects the idea of a single mandatory life sentence. The Report also lists all the main European and common law definitions for homicide at 2.53/2.54.

In English law, the definition of murder is:

The unlawful killing of a human being, under the Queens Peace, with "malice aforethought").

Contrast this with the original definition by Sir Edward Coke in 1597 of:

Murder is when a man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth within any country of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the King's peace, with malice aforethought, either expressed by the party or implied by law, so as the party wounded, or hurt, etc. die of the wound or hurt, etc. within a year and a day after the same.

Note that it is no longer necessary for the victim to die within a year and a day of the offence, nor for the victim to be a reasonable creature.

Specific statutory instances of situations where death is caused are:

• Infanticide - Under s1 Infanticide Act 1938, the intentional killing of an infant under 1-year-old by a mother suffering from post-natal depression or other post-natal disturbance represents an early form of diminished responsibility defence and needs reform to bring it into line with modern medical understanding, and
• Causing death by dangerous driving (of a motor vehicle) was introduced because jurors, many of whom were drivers, thought the charge of manslaughter to carry too great a level of stigma for the degree of fault actually shown by some drivers and refused to convict when the charge was manslaughter. Now motor manslaughter is considered an acceptable charge for the more seriously dangerous examples of driving resulting in death, with aggravated TWOC for the least seriously dangerous driving resulting in death.

The aggravated form of criminal damage, including arson, under s1(2) Criminal Damage Act 1971 could be the anticipatory offence rather than a charge of attempted murder.

Any other killing would be considered either manslaughter in English law or an accident.

• Voluntary manslaughter is murder mitigated to manslaughter by virtue of the statutory defences under the Homicide Act 1957, namely provocation, diminished responsibility or suicide pact.
• Involuntary manslaughter is the killing of another person whether by act or omission either while committing an unlawful act (known as constructive manslaughter) or by gross negligence.

English Law also allows for transferred malice. For example, where a man fires a gun with the intent to kill person A but the shot misses and kills an otherwise unconnected person B, the intent to kill transfers from person A to person B and a charge of murder would stand. The accused could also be charged with the attempted murder of A.

As to mens rea, the model direction to be given to juries for Intention in English law following R v. Woollin [10], is a modified version of that proposed by Lord Lane, C.J. in R v Nedrick [1986] 1 WLR 1025, namely:

Where the charge is murder and in the rare cases where the simple direction is not enough, the jury should be directed that they are not entitled to infer the necessary intention, unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty (barring some unforeseen intervention) as a result of the defendant's actions and that the defendant appreciated that such was the case, the decision being for the jury to decide on a consideration of all the evidence.

The defences of duress and necessity in English law are excluded from murder cases. An exception is Re A [2000], a case involving a pair of conjoined twins. However, the judge noted the legal adage that 'hard cases make bad law' and recommended that the precedent should not be followed.

Comparatively recent adaptations to the English law of murder include the abolition of the "year and a day rule", and the proposed introduction of a less restrictive regime for corporate manslaughter. The Law Commission Consultation Paper No. 177 also advocates a redefinition of murder and a limitation of the scope of manslaughter [11]

See also: Scots law § Criminal law, and born alive rule

United States

In the United States, the principle of dual sovereignty applies to homicide, as to other crimes. If murder is committed within the borders of a state, that state has jurisdiction. If the victim is a federal official, an ambassador, consul or other foreign official under the protection of the United States, or if the crime took place on federal property or involved crossing state borders, or in a manner that substantially affects interstate commerce or national security, then the Federal Government also has jurisdiction. If a crime is not committed within any state, then Federal jurisdiction is exclusive: examples include the District of Columbia, naval or U.S.-flagged merchant vessels in international waters, or a U.S. military base. In cases where a murder involves both state and federal jurisdiction, the offender can be tried and punished separately for each crime without raising issues of double jeopardy.

Modern codifications tend to create a genus of offenses, known collectively as homicide, of which murder is the most serious species, followed by manslaughter which is less serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime at all. Because there are 51 jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this section treats only the crime of murder, and does not deal with state-by-state specifics.

At base, murder consists of an intentional unlawful act with a design to kill and fatal consequences. Generally, an intention to cause great bodily harm is considered indistinguishable from an intention to kill, as is an act so inherently dangerous that any reasonable person would realize the likelihood of fatality. Thus, if the defendant hurled the victim from a bridge, it is no defense to argue that harm was not contemplated, or that the defendant hoped only to break bones.

Murder is the killing of human being with malice prepense. Malice can be expressed (intent to kill) or implied. Implied malice is proven by acts that involve reckless indifference to human life or in a death that occurs during the commission of certain felonies (the felony murder rule). The exact terms of the felony murder vary tremendously from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Sentencing for murder in the United States has a mean of 349 months and a median of 480 months.

Degrees of murder

Before the famous case of Furman v. Georgia in 1972, most states distinguished two degrees of murder. While the rules differed by state, a reasonably common scheme was that of Pennsylvania, passed in 1794: "Murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, rape, robbery, or burglary, shall be deemed murder of the first degree; and all other kinds of murder shall be deemed murder of the second degree."[12] "Murder one", as the term was popularized by novels and television, carried a penalty of death, or life in prison, while the penalty for "murder two" was generally around 80 years in prison. After the Supreme Court placed new requirements on the imposition of the death penalty, most states adopted one of two schemes. In both, third degree murder became the catch-all, while first degree murder was split. The difference was whether some or all first degree murders should be eligible for the most serious penalty (generally death, but sometimes life in prison without the possibility of parole.).

• The first scheme, used by Pennsylvania among other states:

1. First Degree Murder: A premeditated murder, and (in some states) murders involving certain especially dangerous felonies, such as arson or rape, or committed by an inmate serving a life sentence.
2. Second Degree Murder: Non pre-meditated killing.
3. Third Degree Murder: Any other murder.

• The second scheme, used by New York among other states, as well as the Model Penal Code:

1. First Degree Murder: Murder involving special circumstances, such as murder of a police officer, judge, fireman or witness to a crime; multiple murders; and torture or especially heinous murders. Note that a "regular" premeditated murder, absent such special circumstances, is not a first-degree murder; murders by poison or "lying in wait" are not per se first-degree murders. First degree murder is pre-meditated. However, the New York Court of Appeals struck down the death penalty as unconstitutional in the case of People v. Taylor.
2. Second Degree Murder: Any premeditated murder or felony murder that does not involve special circumstances.

Some states, such as California, simply preserved the old distinction between two degrees and have no offense called third degree murder. They simply have "first-degree murder" (leading to life in prison with a possibility of parole) and "first-degree murder with special circumstances" (leading to death or life without the possibility of parole), while second-degree murder continues to be the default category (punished by life in prison with a shorter term until parole eligibility).

Other states use the term "capital murder" for those offenses that merit death, and the term is often used even in states whose statutes do not include the term. As of 2006, 38 states and the federal government have laws allowing capital punishment for certain murders and related crimes (such as treason and terrorism). The penalty is rarely asked for and more rarely imposed, but it has generated tremendous public debate. See also capital punishment and capital punishment in the United States.

Fetal homicide in the United States

Main articles: Born alive rule and Feticide

File:FETICIDEMAP.png

Fetal homicide laws in the United States

Under the common law, an assault on a pregnant woman resulting in a stillbirth was not considered murder; the child had to have breathed at least once to be a human being. Remedies were limited to criminal penalties for the assault on the mother and tort action for loss of the anticipated economic services of the lost child and/or for emotional pain and suffering. With the widespread adoption of laws against abortion, the assailant could be charged with that offense, but the penalty was often only a fine and a few days in jail.

When the Supreme Court greatly reduced laws prohibiting abortions in Roe v. Wade (1973) those sanctions became harder to use. This meant that an assault which ensured that the baby never breathed would result in a lesser charge. Various states passed "fetal homicide" laws, making killing of an unborn child murder; the laws differ about the stage of development at which the child is protected. After several well-publicized cases, Congress passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which specifically criminalizes harming a fetus, with the same penalties as for a similar attack upon a person, when the attack would be a federal offense. Most such attacks fall under state laws; for instance, Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his unborn son as well as his wife under California's pre-existing fetal homicide law.

Vikings (8th to 11th centuries)

The Viking culture had a very different concept of murder. If a person killed someone, then it was up to the murderer to pay the family fair compensation (weregild) for the labor lost by the member's death. If the perpetrator refused to pay weregild, it was up to the family of the slain to extract it from the perpetrator, or take his life. In Nordic countries, the payment of weregild was used in homicide cases until the 16th century.

The only other type of killing with consequences in Viking culture was "unjust killing", i.e. killing someone while they were sleeping or had their back to the killer. While the financial implications of unjust killing were no more severe, the killer in question suffered from a tremendous loss of trust and could be declared an outlaw.

Documentary films

• Blind Spot: Murder by Women, A film by Irving Saraf, Allie Light and Julia Hilder, 2000
• Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, Director: Nick Broomfield, 2003

References

Other references

• Lord Mustill on the Common Law concerning murder
• Sir Edward Coke Co. Inst., Pt. III, ch.7, p. 50

See also

• -cide
• 187, a slang term from California
• Assassination
• Child murder
• Combination of murder and suicide
• Cult homicides
• Deicide
• Democide
• Execution-style murder
• Felony murder
• Femicide
• Filicide
• Fratricide
• Genocide
• Homicide
• Human sacrifice
• Infanticide
• Killology
• List of massacres
• List of unsolved murders and deaths
• Lust murder
• Mass murder
• Manslaughter
• Matricide
• Patricide
• Proxy murder
• Regicide
• Serial killer
• Spree killer
• Suicide
• Thrill killing
• Torture murder

External links

• Murder in the UK Detailed information about murder in the UK. Some categories include serial killers, mass murderers and cannibals
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control "Atlas of United States Mortality"
• Cezanne's depiction of 'The Murder'
• 1986 Seville Statement on Violence
• Introduction and Updated Information on the Seville Statement on Violence
• Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, Inc. - An Anti-Capital Punishment Group