Fatal Offences Against the Person | OCR A-Level Law (H418)
Fatal Offences Against the Person
- 57 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Component 1: The legal system and criminal law
- Component 1
Unlawful killing: murder, the partial defences that reduce it, and the two forms of involuntary manslaughter..
It covers murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and defences and evaluating fatal offences.
Sample questions from Fatal Offences Against the Person
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Murder
What is the test for factual causation in murder?
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The 'but for' test: but for the defendant's conduct, would the victim have died as and when they did (R v White 1910). -
Murder
What does the 'King's (Queen's) peace' requirement mean?
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The victim must be under the Crown's protection; killing an enemy soldier in the heat of battle in wartime falls outside the King's peace. -
Voluntary manslaughter
What are the two qualifying triggers for loss of control?
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The fear trigger, a fear of serious violence from the victim against the defendant or another (s55(3)); and the anger trigger, things done or said amounting to circumstances of an extremely grave character giving the defendant a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged (s55(4)). -
Voluntary manslaughter
What is the burden and standard of proof for diminished responsibility?
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The defendant must prove it on the balance of probabilities. -
Involuntary manslaughter
What is the test for whether the act is 'dangerous'?
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An objective test: whether a sober and reasonable person would recognise that the act carried a risk of some harm to the victim (R v Church 1966). -
Involuntary manslaughter
What are the elements of gross negligence manslaughter?
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(1) A duty of care owed to the victim; (2) breach of that duty; (3) the breach caused death; and (4) the breach was so grossly negligent as to be criminal (R v Adomako 1994). -
Defences and evaluating fatal offences
Name three defences that can operate in relation to fatal offences against the person.
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Intoxication, self-defence, and consent. -
Defences and evaluating fatal offences
Why is it important that fatal offence laws are based on sound moral principles?
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Because criminal law should reflect society's moral judgments about the wrongfulness of killing, ensure that labels and punishments correspond to moral culpability, and maintain public confidence in the justice system.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Murder | Recall questions on the common law definition of murder, an unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being under the King's peace, factual and legal causation and the thin skull rule, and malice aforethought, including intention to cause serious harm and oblique intention. | 14 |
| Voluntary manslaughter | Recall questions on loss of control and diminished responsibility and on what each partial defence requires. | 15 |
| Involuntary manslaughter | Recall questions on unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter and on the cases defining each. | 15 |
| Defences and evaluating fatal offences | Recall questions on how self-defence, intoxication and consent operate against a charge of homicide, and on evaluating whether the law on fatal offences is fair, effective, up to date and balanced between principle and policy. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
OCR A-Level Law Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,624 questions with their answers.