Involuntary+Manslaughter

**Voluntary Manslaughter**
Manslaughter involves the same elements of the crime of murder, but occurs where the penalty ought to be reduced due to mitigating circumstances. Such mitigating circumstances may include being provoked into killing, or being the survivor of a suicide pact.

**Involuntary Manslaughter**
Involuntary manslaughter is broadly defined as an act or omission that casues the death of another human being without lawful excuse and under circumstnaces that do not amount to murder or voluntary manslaughter.

There are two headings under this type of manslaughter:
 * 1) Manslaughter by criminal negligence, which occurs where a person causes teh death of another by an act that is done with a high degree of careleness; and
 * 2) Involuntary manslaughter by an unlawful or dangerous act, which occurs where the accused in the course of performing a dangerous act they cause the death of another

The court in R v Wilson set out a test for this form of involuntary manslaughter which requires:
 * 1) there must be an 'unlawful' act;
 * 2) the 'unlawful' fact must also be a 'dangerous' act; and
 * 3) the act which is both 'unlawful' and 'dangerous' must be the legal cause of the death of another human being

This means that mens rea relates to the unlawful act itself. Therefore according to R v Lamb, if the act that causes death is assault, then the prosecution must prove that the defendant had the requisite mens rea to commit assault.


 * The unlawful requirement**
 * According to R v Lamb the act in question must be one that breaches the criminal law.
 * An act will not be unlawful if there is a justification or an excuse for the act (e.g. self-defence).
 * An omission is insufficient to establish involuntary manslaughter.
 * The dangerousness requirement**
 * According to R v Wilson the key question to be answered is whether "a reasonable man in the accused's position, performing the very act which the accused performed, would have realised that he was exposing another to an appreciable risk of serious injury".
 * This requriement is considered from the perspective of the ordinary man who is invested with the knowledge and characteristics of the defendant.
 * According to R v Dawson if the defendant is unaware of a particular susceptability of the victim, then the defendant's lack of knowledge will be invested in the reasonable person. However, if the defendant becomes aware of the victim's frailty in the course of the act, then the reasonable person will be invested with that knowledge like Watson v R.

Involuntary Manslaughter by criminal negligence
The court in Nydam's case provided a summary of the elements that must be proven in order to convict for negligent manslaughter:
 * 1) A voluntary act or omission on the part of the defendant;
 * 2) A legal causal connection between the voluntary act or omission and the death of another human being
 * 3) That the relevant voluntary act or omission amounted to a breach of duty of care owed to the deceased; and
 * 4) That the breach of duty of care was such a degree as to rise to the level of 'gross' or 'criminal' negligence

There is a general tortious duty of care not to harm others. Therefore, if death is caused by an assault, then establishing a duty of care is unproblematic. The standard of care is that which would be exepcted of a reasonable person in the same situation as the defendant. The court in Nydam's case held that negligent manslaughter involves a 'great falling short of the standard of care required of a reasonable man under the circumstances and a high degree of risk or likelihood of the occurrence of death or serious bodily harm if the duty of care was not observed'. Thus the test for criminal negligence means that the accused did not in fact advert to the probability of causing death where a reasonable person would have adverted and recognised the risk. The objective test requires an assessment of the nature of the defendant's conduct and his or her knowledge. If the defendant had special knowledge then that will be invested in the reasonable person.
 * Breach of Duty of Care**
 * The Standard of Negligence**

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