(1).重点：Murder: is a common law offence

Murder is a common law offence defined as unlawfully causing the death of a person within the Queen’s peace and with the intention to kill or cause GBH:Vickers [1957] 2 QB 664.

Note to the MR of murder: Remember that direct intention to kill should be considered first, followed by direct intention to cause GBH, and only if neither of these are satisfied should there be a discussion of oblique intention and reference to the Woollin test.

(2). 重点：Voluntary manslaughter and DR

Not all killings that fall within the scope of murder are regarded as equally culpable yet the mandatory penalty of life imprisonment will apply to them all unless one of the partial defences is available.

The Homicide Ordinance contained two defences that operated to reduce liability from murder to voluntary manslaughter, giving the judge discretion in sentencing as a reflection of the lower level of culpability attached to certain killings. These forms of manslaughter are described as voluntary because the defendant had the mens rea for murder as opposed to involuntary manslaughter, where the defendant did not have the necessary mens rea for murder.

(3). Involuntary manslaughter

(a).Unlawful dangerous act (constructive) manslaughter (UDA manslaughter)

(b)Gross negligence manslaughter