i Kristen ii Szh e| Criminal law |
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| Part of the common law series |
| Element (criminal law) |
| Scope of criminal liability |
| Inchoate offenses |
| Offence against the person |
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Homicide crimes
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| Crimes against property |
| Crimes against justice |
| Defenses to liability |
| Other common law areas |
| Portals |
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012) |
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.[1]
The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the murder mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of homicide, where murder requires either the intent to kill – a state of mind called malice, or malice aforethought – or the knowledge that one's actions are likely to result in death; manslaughter, on the other hand, requires a lack of any prior intention to kill or create a deadly situation.
Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories: voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter; however, this is not the case in all juridictions.[2]
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