Why Britain’s murder laws must change

In spite of our Black Lives Matter moment, there is a serious injustice that persistently affects young black men living in our inner cities and which is almost never discussed. It is the risk of over-conviction created by the current law of homicide and its disproportionate impact on black and ethnic minority defendants.

Homicide law in England and Wales is a mess. The offence of murder, which is our most serious homicide offence as opposed to manslaughter, requires that a defendant kills unlawfully with the intent to do at least serious bodily harm to his victim. If the defendant intended to do less than serious bodily harm then he ought to be convicted of manslaughter. But manslaughter is not always left as an alternative count for a jury to consider. This means that large numbers of defendants, all of whom may be accused of different degrees of violent behaviour, can end up accused of murdering a single person.