Rethinking English Homicide Law

This is the first book in recent years to reconsider the shape and details of the English law of homicide, a topic avoided by governments in their plans for law reform. It discusses how the law should define murder, how it should respond to provoked killings, how it should deal with mentally abnormal killers, etc.

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The law of homicide is probably the most high-profile area of the criminal law, and yet in recent years it has been relatively neglected by law reform agencies. Rethinking English Homicide Law brings together six top English criminal lawyers to discuss the future shape of the English law of homicide and deals with such important topics as the definition of murder, the relevance of mental abnormality provocation, unintentional killings, defences, and sentencing. The book also considers broad policy choices and matters of detail, in their contemporary social and legal context, and highlights the difficult issues that need to be tackled if we are to have an up-to-date law of murder and manslaughter.