Legal Writing and Research | Issues Study

Running head: LEGAL WRITING AND RESEARCH
LEGAL WRITING AND RESEARCH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

LEGAL WRITING AND RESEARCH1
Murder and Provocation
Issue
 The issue to be discussed in this particular scenario is whether there would be any
legislative provisions which are laid down in the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) be applicable
to the murder and manslaughter and what are the elements of murder and manslaughter
and how such is different from it.
 Whether there have been any kind of legislative provisions applicable to the defense of
provocation for murder and the elements of such provocation. Whether partial defense be
applicable to the client in this current scenario. Who is considered to carry the persuasive
burden of proof and the evidential onus to what standard. Ms. Thomas and Mr. Bolton
were involved in an abusive domestic relationship would such be relevant to the other
partial defenses that are applicable to the client Ms. Thomas under the QCC and what are
the provisions that are relevant.
 Whether there have been any kind of murder cases found in Queensland Australia, which
involves the application of the partial defense that is considered to depend on the abusive
domestic relationship. With the help of brief summary of the facts how would such be
applicable to Ms. Thomas. How has the precedent from other cases been treated.
 Whether there would be any outcome, which would be likely on such issue.
Rule
There are certain kinds of charges which would be considered to be an outcome of an
individual’s death and such would be determined through the circumstances which had occurred
in the past. Any individual would be considered to have killed another individual if the

LEGAL WRITING AND RESEARCH2
individuals have caused the death of another person directly or indirectly. The cause of the death
of any individual can also be through threats or any intimidation as such threats would give rise
to the individuals to do any act which would cause death.
Murder is considered to be discussed under section 302 of the Code which is in
accordance to the Queensland legislation. This section discusses that the wilful killing of any
individual whether intentionally or through any kind of reckless indifference would also be
considered as murder. The term of reckless indifference is not considered to include any kind of
unsafe or perilous driving that would cause death as such would be a different offence included
in the Code. The intention to kill is considered to be one of the essential elements in order to
cause death to an individual as such is not applicable if any kind of bodily harm or injury has
been caused to any victim who eventually dies. The intention as an essential element can also be
considered to be waived or put aside if the actions of the individual would likely endanger the
human life and death was an outcome of such. It can be seen in the cases of domestic violence.
The above-mentioned section is considered to set out the situations through which a person or an
individual is considered to be guilty of murder (Yannoulidis, 2016).
 If the offender is intending on killing or cause some kind of a grievous injury to any
individual.
 If the death, which has been caused by means of some act, which has been done during
the prosecution of any unlawful purpose, and the act, committed is considered to be of
any nature, which would be harmful and would endanger the human life.
 If the offender is considered to intend on causing bodily harm in order to facilitate the
flight of an offender or perpetrator who has committed any offence or is attempting to

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cause an offence then the crime needs to be of that stature where the arrest can be done
without any warrant.
 If there has been a death of an individual caused by any stupefying or astonishing thing
for the purposes that have been mentioned in the paragraph.
 If the death is caused due to wilfully stopping the breath of any individual for any of the
purposes that have been listed before (Bronitt, & McSherry, 2017).
It can be understood from the case of R v Moloney (1985) 81 Cr App R 93 where the mental
element of the murder was considered to be of an intention to kill or cause any kind of serious
injury.
Manslaughter on the other hand is considered to be dealt with in section 279 of the Code
where a person or an individual needs to have an intention to cause death to another individual or
intends on causing bodily harm which would endanger the life of an individual. Manslaughter is
considered to include less moral blame than the first or the second degree murder. The fault
element for both murder and manslaughter in Queensland is the intention to kill or to impose any
kind of bodily harm on another individual ((Bronitt, & McSherry, 2017).
Under section 291 of the Act, it is considered to be unlawful to kill any individual until
and unless the killing of such an individual has been authorized or justified by law. Section 293
is considered to define the killing as causing death of an individual directly or indirectly through
any means whatsoever. It can be observed from the case of R v Pagett (1983) 76 Cr App R 279
where it was held that the act that was committed by the individual who was accused was not the
only cause for death of the victim but it had been a significant cause and it can be understood
from the case of Royall v R (1991) 172 CLR 378 as an example of such case.