In English law, Irish law and Northern Irish law, unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales and Ireland when someone has been killed by one or more unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of criminal law. This includes murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing death by dangerous driving. A verdict of unlawful killing generally leads to a police investigation, with the aim of gathering sufficient evidence to identify, charge and prosecute those responsible.[1]
The inquest does not normally name any individual person as responsible.[2] In R (on the application of Maughan) v Her Majesty's Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire[3] the Supreme Court clarified that the standard of proof for suicide and unlawful killing in an inquest is the civil standard of the balance of probabilities and not the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.[4]
- ^ Thornton, Peter (18 January 2016). "Law Sheet No. 1 - Unlawful Killing" (PDF). www.judiciary.uk. Judiciary of England and Wales. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ Lord Mackay of Clashfern (ed.) (2006) Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th ed. reissue, vol.9(2), "Coroners", 1043. Killed unlawfully
- ^ R (on the application of Maughan) v Her Majesty’s Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire [2020] UKSC 46, [2021] 3 All ER 1, [2021] AC 454, [2020] 3 WLR 1298, [2021] Med LR 1, [2020] Inquest LR 175, (2021) 178 BMLR 1 (13 November 2020), Supreme Court (UK)
- ^ "Coroners". The Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
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