Murder and Manslaughter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Murder and Manslaughter - Assignment Example Murders are divided into first and second degree of murder. First-degree murder is when the accused planned and premeditated about the murder. It carries the highest penalties unlike second degree of murder that was not premeditated or planned (Great Britain, 2006). Manslaughter is illegal killing without malice though it disregards human life. Murder can be reduced to manslaughter in two ways. The first one is heat of passion and the second is imperfect defense of oneself or others. In order for a killing to qualify as caused by passion, the accused must have been provoked compelling him to act irrationally with intense emotion. Lastly, the provocation should be force an average person  to act recklessly. Murder can also be reduced to manslaughter if the accused killed to defend himself or another person. In a scenario where the victim posed a threat to another person’s life, and is killed because of the danger he posed, the accused should not be guilty. However, if the victim’s threat could not have injured the other person, the murder is reduced to manslaughter. The accused charged as per the laws of the country (Yeo & University of Sydney,