Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid

excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human being with malice
aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction,
distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as
manslaughter. Manslaughter is a killing committed in the absence of
malice, brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity.
Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all
but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.

Most societies consider murder to be an extremely serious crime, and thus

believe that the person charged should receive harsh punishments for the
purposes of retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, or incapacitation. In most
countries, a person convicted of murder generally faces a long-term prison
sentence, possibly a life sentence; and in a few, the death penalty may be
imposed.

The elements of common law murder are:

1. Unlawful
2. killing
3. through criminal act or omission
4. of a human
5. by another human
6. with malice aforethought.

The Unlawful – This distinguishes murder from killings that are done within
the boundaries of law, such as capital punishment, justified self-defence, or
the killing of enemy combatants by lawful combatants as well as causing
collateral damage to non-combatants during a war.

Killing – At common law life ended with cardiopulmonary arrest – the total
and irreversible cessation of blood circulation and respiration. With
advances in medical technology courts have adopted irreversible cessation
of all brain function as marking the end of life.

Сriminal act or omission – Killing can be committed by an act or an

omission.

of a human – This element presents the issue of when life begins. At

common law, a fetus was not a human being. Life began when the fetus
passed through the vagina and took its first breath.
by another human – In early common law, suicide was considered
murder. The requirement that the person killed be someone other than the
perpetrator excluded suicide from the definition of murder.

with malice aforethought – Originally malice aforethought carried its

everyday meaning – a deliberate and premeditated (prior intent) killing of
another motivated by ill will. Murder necessarily required that an
appreciable time pass between the formation and execution of the intent to
kill. The courts broadened the scope of murder by eliminating the
requirement of actual premeditation and deliberation as well as true malice.
All that was required for malice aforethought to exist is that the perpetrator
act with one of the four states of mind that constitutes "malice".

The four states of mind recognized as constituting "malice" are:

i. Intent to kill,
ii. Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm short of death,
iii. Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life
(sometimes described as an "abandoned and malignant heart"), or
iv. Intent to commit a dangerous felony (the "felony murder" doctrine).
v. Degrees of murder
vi. "Murder in the second degree" redirects here.
vii. Many jurisdictions divide murder by degrees. The distinction between
first- and second-degree murder exists, for example, in Canadian
murder law and U.S. murder law.
viii. The most common division is between first- and second-degree
murder. Generally, second-degree murder is common law murder,
and first-degree is an aggravated form. The aggravating factors of
first-degree murder depend on the jurisdiction, but may include a
specific intent to kill, premeditation, or deliberation. In some, murder
committed by acts such as strangulation, poisoning, or lying in wait
are also treated as first-degree murder
ix. Some jurisdictions also distinguish premeditated murder. This is the
crime of wrongfully and intentionally causing the death of another
human being (also known as murder) after rationally considering the
timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood
of success, or to evade detection or apprehension. State laws in the
United States vary as to definitions of "premeditation". In some
states, premeditation may be construed as taking place mere
seconds before the murder. Premeditated murder is one of the most
 serious forms of homicide, and is punished more severely than
manslaughter or other types of murder, often with a life sentence
without the possibility of parole, or in some countries, the death
penalty. In the U.S, federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1111(a)) criminalizes
premeditated murder, felony murder and second-degree murder. In
Canada, the Criminal Code classifies murder as either 1st- or 2nd-
degree. The former type of murder is often called premeditated
murder, although premeditation is not the only way murder can be
classified as first-degree.

Exclusions

General

Although laws vary by country, there are circumstances of exclusion that

are common in many legal systems.

 Killing of enemy combatants who have not surrendered by lawful

combatants, in accordance with lawful orders in war, is also generally
not considered murder; although illicit killings within a war may
constitute murder or homicidal war crimes. (see the Laws of war
article)
 Self-defence: acting in self-defence or in defence of another person is
generally accepted as legal justification for killing a person in
situations that would otherwise have been murder. However, a self-
defence killing might be considered manslaughter if the killer
established control of the situation before the killing took place. In the
case of self-defence it is called a "justifiable homicide".
 Unlawful killings without malice or intent are considered
manslaughter.
 In many common law countries, provocation is a partial defence to a
charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise
have been murder into manslaughter (this is voluntary manslaughter,
which is more severe than involuntary manslaughter).
 Accidental killings are considered homicides. Depending on the
circumstances, these may or may not be considered criminal
offenses; they are often considered manslaughter.
 Suicide does not constitute murder in most societies. Assisting a
suicide, however, may be considered murder in some circumstances.