In the United Kingdom the offence of manslaughter has been categorized into voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Under the Homicide Act, 1957, Voluntary manslaughter is described as ‘murder reduced to manslaughter by the presence of provocation, diminished responsibility or suicide pact’. Provocation, diminished responsibility or suicide pact are partial defences and if one of these defences is proved to be existing, the crime ceases to be a murder and the penalty of life imprisonment goes away empowering the judge to exercise his discretion as to sentence. Involuntary manslaughter refers to either an unlawful act resulting in death which is sometimes called constructive manslaughter or death resulting from gross or criminal negligence. To constitute constructive manslaughter or manslaughter from an unlawful act three ingredients must be present, namely, (a) An unlawful act committed by the defendant that results in the death of another person, (b) the act must have involved a risk that someone would be harmed and (c) the defendant must have had the mens rea (guilty intention) for the unlawful act, such as an assault, that led to the victim’s death.
