Homicide Act 1957

สรุป

The Homicide Act 1957 reformed the law of murder and manslaughter. It originally introduced the partial defences of diminished responsibility and provocation (reducing murder to voluntary manslaughter), and abolished the doctrine of constructive malice. The provocation defence was replaced by loss of control by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, but diminished responsibility remains (as amended).

ประเด็นสำคัญ

• Section 2: diminished responsibility — a person who kills while suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning arising from a recognised medical condition that substantially impaired their ability to understand their conduct, form a rational judgment, or exercise self-control, is not guilty of murder but of manslaughter (as amended by Coroners and Justice Act 2009, s.52)
• Section 4: abolished the doctrine of constructive malice — killing in the course of a felony is no longer automatically murder
• Originally introduced provocation as a partial defence (s.3) — now replaced by loss of control (Coroners and Justice Act 2009, ss.54-56)
• Section 1: abolishes the distinction between capital and non-capital murder (death penalty was later fully abolished by the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965)
• Suicide pacts (s.4) — a person who kills another in pursuance of a suicide pact is guilty of manslaughter, not murder

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