Culpable Homicide, Murder & Transferred Malice — KSLU Bns Notes

Culpable Homicide, Murder & Transferred Malice

Culpable homicide (S.100) is causing death with the intention of causing death, or causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that the act is likely to cause death. Murder (S.101) is the aggravated form — culpable homicide becomes murder where the special intention/knowledge in its four clauses is present, unless a reducing exception applies. The dividing line is the degree of probability of death: likely to cause death → culpable homicide; sufficient in the ordinary course of nature / imminently dangerous → murder.

Transferred malice (S.102) provides that where a person, by an act intended to kill A, causes the death of B, it is murder/culpable homicide as if he had killed the person intended — the malice is transferred to the actual victim.

flowchart TD
    A["Murder (S.101) is reduced to<br/>Culpable Homicide when…"]:::root
    A --> B["Grave & sudden PROVOCATION"]:::leaf
    A --> C["Exceeding PRIVATE DEFENCE in good faith"]:::leaf
    A --> D["Act of a public servant exceeding authority (good faith)"]:::leaf
    A --> E["Sudden FIGHT, no premeditation, no undue advantage"]:::leaf
    A --> F["CONSENT of a person above 18 to take the risk of death"]:::leaf

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