Definition of Manslaughter in Law (Essay Sample)

Manslaughter generally deals with homicide instances where a killing has an extent of justifiability in law. Many of these cases involves killing without any deliberate intention or any malice in its undertaking. Manslaughter is divided into two broad separate unlawful killings; voluntary and involuntary. Common law previously treated these two cases as the same but in present day treated differently as they have different dimension in law.
Involuntary manslaughter would be where a killer acts with negligence or recklessness leading to a homicide therefore having a criminal liability under the law. Voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another individual without any deliberate reason but acting on "heat of passion”. An obvious instance or example of voluntary manslaughter can involve a case where a man James who is in a financial problem is fired and insulted by his boss and react instantly due to the heat of the moment and hit his boss with a blunt object to death. In a court of law James advocates can defend his act by proving that he did not have time to analyse situation and reacted instantly. However the prosecution can prove that James had ample time to contemplate the case before reacting. Another case may involve Alexendar who has just lost all his property to the bank, and heads to a pub to cool his head off, as he settles ...