Constructive Manslaughter - Term Paper Example

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” (LAW COM 237, 1996: p. 13) which resulted in the death.  As found in Creamer[1]:

opposed to some lesser offense.

In R v Mitchell[2], an 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 Franklin[3] 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. Lamb[4].

            In R v Dalby[5] the court attempted to establish that the defendant’s act must be directly aimed at the victim.  The court in allowing the appeal stated that “where manslaughter was based on an unlawful and dangerous act, it had to be an act directed at the victim which was likely to cause immediate injury, albeit slight.”