We hear a lot of stories about homicide on news; some being charged with murder and some found not guilty at all. So, what can be defined as justifiable homicide? - writes Alisa Cho.
It is assumed that no other type of crime has been the subject of as much leading concern as homicide. But a number of times we do not realise that all the homicides were caused of bad intentions. Even though homicide is the killing of one person by another, under certain circumstances, it can be treated as a non-criminal case. The Criminal code states that a person is allowed to carry out conduct to defend himself or herself or another person. (Criminal Code Act 1995 – 10.4) This includes killing of an enemy during war, in order to save him or herself from obvious
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‘as the traditional view is that the soldiers on both sides in a war are permitted to fight against one another. And they do not, of course, have a right to kill just anyone. According to the traditional theory, combatants are permitted to kill only opposing combatants.’
As explained by McMahan, it is acceptable to kill the opponents in a war in regards to self-defence. In the wars; of which some had happened in the past, and some are still going on right now, soldiers are expected to protect the nation’s residents by working with their fellow soldiers, their unit and the Army as a whole. Logically speaking, soldiers have the rights to kill the opponents in order to fulfil their obligations.
This positions myself to think how I would react if I was put in Ellie’s position. Like Fiona confided, ‘I suppose when the time comes I’ll probably do whatever I have to do’ (Page 240). I suppose when the time comes, I will commit homicide without even thinking whether I am doing the right thing to save myself, my family and my friends from the
The murder of countrymen is okay, but the murder of a soldier is not. Colonel Lanser, leader of the occupation, requests the local Mayor, sentence Alex to death. The Mayor responds, “I am the Mayor, I have no right to pass sentence of death. If I should do it, I would be breaking the law as much as you.”(48) The Mayor, understanding he is in office because of the voice of his people. “You killed six men when you came in. Under our law you are guilty of murder, all of you,”(48) Ultimately, Colonel Lanser sentences Alex to
Reasonable people will generally go a long distance to protect their loved-ones. However, most reasonable people would believe that killing someone in order to protect their loved ones would be immoral and harmful. In the case of R v. Buzizi [2013], a man killed another in a supposed effort to protect his cousin. On an early morning in Montréal, the accused’s cousin and the victim ensued in a brawl (Casey). The initial fight was broken up by a third party. A few moments later, the accused, Mr. Buzizi, who saw the initial assault from afar, intervened and pushed the victim (Casey). Then, Mr. Buzizi noticed that the victim had an exacto knife, and that his cousin had a serious wound on his neck (R v. Buzizi, para 24). For fear that the
In some countries people, do not have the freedom to choose their own path. Many people live in places with so much conflict and destruction that they are force to follow the orders of a political lieder and force to make decision that are not in accordance to what they believe, but they do it because they are loyalty to their country, family and friends Pauline M. Kaurin provide a scenario of a soldiers killing civilian people that they confused with a suicide bomber, then she asked, “When is killing murder and when is it a legitimate act of war? Whom can one legitimately kill in war?” (Kaurin in page 41). She argues that during combat distinction from the enemy and civilian should be relevant to preserve the essence of true morality. In the contrast to Achilles the essence of true morality is irrelevant when he claims that no Trojan should keep their life, he swore death to all Trojan. (book XXI). During a time, war, is important to accept the fact of the situation in the eyes a devastation believing that one fate must be accepted in other to continue living or accepting the consequence and the faith of their own
A universal and unavoidable product of war is that soldiers get killed. Most people accept these killings as a necessary evil and that the ends justify the means. If the war is “justifiable”,the killing of enemy soldiers is deemed as a necessary triumph of what is right. If the war is unjustified, it is seen as honorable to fight for one's country, whether you agree with them or not. But antiwar pacifists do not take the lives of soldiers for granted. Everyone has a right to life and killing on the battlefield is a direct violation of that right. In a standard interpretation of basic rights, it is never morally justifiable to violate a right in order to produce some good. In war, the argument goes, kill or be killed, and that type of killing is killing in self-defense. But, according to anti-war pacifists, killing in the name of self-defense during times of war cannot be justified unless a) they had no other way to protect their
Murder is a reprobate action that is an inevitable part of war. It forces humans into immoral acts, which can manifest in the forms such as shooting or close combat. The life of a soldier is ultimately decided from the killer, whether or not he follows through with his actions. In the short stories The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty and Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, the killer must decide the fate of their victims under circumstantial constraints. The two story explore the difference between killing at a close proximity compared to killing at a distance, and how they affect the killer's final decision.
Assassinations and targeted killings have been topics vastly debated around the world throughout history. As a matter of fact, this matter can be discussed through the eyes of Michael Walzer from a just war theory perspective. This viewpoint can be used in order to explain just assassinations of political and military leaders as well as other individuals. For example, a person can be the victim of targeted killings if their death would result in less future violence or warfare. However, the individual must pose an imminent threat, capture is not feasible, and the operation is executed in observance of the applicable laws of war. Yet the burden of proof and responsibility resides with those in highest power since it is their duty to maintain order among everyone below them. As a result, only those in power can decide who is assassinated and for what reason. All arguments against this belief can be annihilated by the fact that targeted killing will lower the chances of further combatant and civilian casualties. Ultimately, just assassination or targeted killing are blameless if the outcome will create less vehemence.
Reasonable people will generally go a long distance to protect their loved-ones. However, most reasonable people would believe that killing someone else in order to protect their loved ones would be immoral and harmful. In the case of R v. Buzizi [2013], a man killed another in a supposed effort to protect his cousin. On an early morning in Montréal, the accused’s cousin and the victim ensued in a brawl. The initial fight was broken up by a third party. A few moments later, the accused, Mr. Buzizi, who saw the initial assault from afar, intervened and pushed the victim. Then, Mr. Buzizi noticed that the victim had an exacto knife, and that his cousin had a serious wound on his neck. For fear that the victim was going to pull out the
Abstract There are many times in the world today where evil will bear its ugly face. Society has to prepare itself for such a battle with evil when the time comes. All too often when one confronts an evil situation, there tends to be bloodshed. This paper will attempt to explain what excusable homicide is and how it is utilized in the world today.
The two types of criminal behaviors are justifiable homicide and excusable homicides (Schmalleger, 2002). Justifiable manslaughter incorporates the execution of a sentenced guilty party by a court arrange or the killing of an opponent by a military in the line of obligation. An excusable homicide, as a rule, includes the unintentional or non-careless killing of another person. This implies there is no proof to demonstrate the convict had aimed to kill the victim. So there is no confirmation of wrongful or imprudence with respect to the individual that is sentenced (Schmalleger, 2002). Be that as it may, criminal crime is legitimately isolated from two types of murder and manslaughter. All things considered, there are two contemplations that
If I were to ask you if killing someone is justifiable, some will answer with a strong no and others like me might say it depends on what they did. However, that is a job for the police to investigate and figure out. No human being kills another without some sort of
The purpose of war is sought for the annihilation of the enemy. Rousseau is accurate when stating that during war, people who bear arms can be (justly) killed; however, he is also inaccurate because there may be innocent individuals who may get caught in the crossfire. Within the literature work of Rousseau, “On the Social Contract”, he states, “the purpose of war is the destruction of the enemy state, one has the right to kill the defenders of the state so long as they bear arms” (Rousseau 146). During war, rules are changed and everyone who is a defendant of the ‘state’ is virtually an enemy. It is a natural instinct to preserve ourselves and so by fear of the greater force we kill, without hesitation. Therefore, the question of whether we
If someone threatens your life and you have time to deliberate and act, what are you most likely to do? Hunt the person down and kill them as quickly as possible? No, such an action would be considered immoral. There is no justifiable reason to assume that pacifistic alternatives won't work. To justify war is not simply to justify killing in such a situation, but also to kill many innocent people in the process of doing so.
Society today is comprised of many different races, ethnicities and minds that think differently and similarly on various topics. The interpretation of homicide is a topic that may be considered to be a universally accepted social more. A common misconception of homicide is that it is used similarly to murder but homicide is general in scope than murder. Murder is a form of homicide that constitutes a criminal act. There are also other forms of homicide that do not comprise of criminal acts. Homicides of this nature are regarded as justifiable or excusable. An example of a justifiable homicide is when an individual is in peril they may out of self-defence
The Supreme Court case, R v Murray[4], states that the appellant pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder – where the appellant was found guilty of manslaughter – where, although the appellant intended to kill the deceased, he was only criminally responsible for manslaughter because of provocation under section 304[5] - where the appellant was sentenced to nine years imprisonment under section 161B[6] - where there was a declaration that the applicant had been convicted of a serious violence offence. Where the case R v McDougall and Collas[7] was applied as a precedent to the final decision of the case.
Jus in Bello falls between two broad categories of discrimination and proportionality. Discrimination and proportionality are key factors that must be considered when engaging in war. For example, Michael Walzer argues, “war should only occur between combatants – soldier to soldier and noncombatants should be shielded from harm”. 2 Essentially, this means during times of conflict only legitimate targets should be targeted, combatants should distinguish against whom is attacked and should not include innocent bystanders. Furthermore, Alexander Moseley states, “In waging war, it is considered unfair and unjust to attack indiscriminately since non-combatants or innocents are deemed to stand outside the field of war”. 3 Unfortunately, this can be difficult at times since it may be hard to distinguish a combatant from a non-combatant especially since they do not always wear a uniform or carry arms, making it impossible to distinguish between them.