Criminal justice, procedure and human rights Coursework

Criminal justice, procedure and human rights - Coursework Example Of course, these are the extreme limits and the judge imposes sentence based upon the facts of the case. Although by statute there is no distinction drawn between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, that is to say there is only one crime manslaughter, in general the distinction between the two are commonly acknowledged. There are two major categories that fall within the scope of involuntary manslaughter. These are: Constructive manslaughter assigns guilt to the defendant even though they may not have intended the injury or death of the victim and a reasonable person may not have conceived that the death would result, but the responsibility for the death, none the less, is found in the commission of an illegal "quite unconnected and possibly minor unlawful act" (LAWCOM 237, 1996: p. 13) which resulted in the death. ... Constructive Manslaughter Constructive manslaughter assigns guilt to the defendant even though they may not have intended the injury or death of the victim and a reasonable person may not have conceived that the death would result, but the responsibility for the death, none the less, is found in the commission of an illegal "quite unconnected and possibly minor unlawful act" (LAWCOM 237, 1996: p. 13) which resulted in the death. As found in Creamer1: A man is guilty of involuntary manslaughter when he intends an unlawful act and one likely to do harm to the person and death results which was neither foreseen nor intended. It is the accident of death resulting which makes him guilty of manslaughter as opposed to some lesser offence. In R v Mitchell2, at appeal the court found that several criteria must be met in order to establish that manslaughter due to an unlawful act had been committed. Upon decision the court found that to be convicted the following four conditions need to be met: The defendant committed an illegal act The act was dangerous in that a reasonable and sober person would recognise the inherent danger of act committed The death of the victim resulted from the act The defendant intended to commit the act even though they may not have foreseen the consequence of the death of the defendant In order to understand the criteria of each point required to show cause for a guilty verdict of involuntary manslaughter, it is necessary to review the case law for each of the above points. R v Franklin3 established the precedent that the defendant must have committed an unlawful act in order to be convicted of manslaughter. This was upheld in R. v. Lamb4. In R v Dalby5 the court attempted to establish that the defendant's