Earlier in the week, we told you about Bebe who agreed to help his wife Hanni end her life. Unfortunately, things did not work out and Hanni died but Bebe survived. We asked you what offence the law may bring against him. Thank you for all your responses and we are really proud and impressed that you guys are alert to the law. So, let us break it down together.
What is an Unlawful Killing?
By law, the taking of anyone’s life is unlawful unless it is because of a death sentence against a person. It does not matter whether the life you have chosen to take is your own or if you agreed with someone that you would do it.
The unlawful taking of life can be murder or manslaughter, if you take off time to plan for how you will kill someone and what you will use to carry out the act, in law we say you have malice aforethought so you will be taken to have committed murder. On the other hand, if you ‘accidentally’ or suddenly kill someone without a prior plan, then you may be liable for the offence of manslaughter.
The penal code says that when you are charged with the offence of murder, but you killed, the person because you agreed to help the person commit suicide, then tell the court that this was your reason for killing the person (this is what is called a defence in law). If this defence is accepted, the offence against you becomes manslaughter instead of murder. This does not mean you will escape any punishment; it only means that you will get a lesser punishment than what you would for murder.
#BarefootLaw
#osutayusuf
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