Homicide

This article is about the type of killing. For other uses, see Homicide (disambiguation).

Homicide (Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of killing another human being. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Homicide is not always an illegal act, so although "homicide" is often used as a synonym for "murder," this is not formally correct.

Non-criminal homicide

Main article: Justifiable homicide

Homicides do not always involve a crime. Sometimes the law allows homicide by allowing certain defenses to criminal charges. One of the most recognized is self defense, which provides that a person is entitled to commit homicide to protect his or her own life from a deadly attack.

Some defenses include:

• Self-defense and defence of others
• Insanity defense—There are several tests to check insanity
  • M'Naghten Rules
  • Insane delusion
  • Irresistible impulse test
  • Substantial capacity test
  • Durham rule
  • Diminished capacity test
• Duress
• Defence of property
• Prevention of a crime
• Privilege of public authority—A person who has public authority to commit an act is not criminally liable.
• Entrapment—The defense of Entrapment exists when a law enforcement officer (or an agent of an officer) solicits, induces, or encourages another to commit a crime which they otherwise would not have committed.
• Mistake of fact—The defense of Mistake of Fact asserts that a mistake of fact will disprove a criminal charge if it is honestly entertained, based upon reasonable grounds and is of such a nature that the conduct would have been lawful had the facts been as they were supposed to be.
• Mistake of law—Not a valid defense to crime except in rare instances where it negates an essential element of the crime. Therefore the old saying "ignorance of law is no excuse" is appropriate as a general rule.
• Unconsciousness—The defense of Unconsciousness holds that one who is unconscious, for instance, someone walking in their sleep, does not have the capacity to commit a crime.

State-sanctioned homicide

Homicides may also be non-criminal when conducted with the sanction of the state. The most obvious example is capital punishment, in which the state determines that a person should die. Homicides committed in action during war are usually not subject to criminal prosecution either. In addition, members of law enforcement entities are also allowed to commit justified homicides within certain parameters which, when met, do not usually result in prosecution; see deadly force.

See also

• Suicide—Killing of oneself
• Murder book—A homicide case file
• List of countries by intentional homicide rate