Murder With 'Excess Of Malice' Capital Crime

Northern Advocate, 16 July 1948, Page 3

Murder With 'Excess Of Malice' Capital Crime

LONDON, Thu. (10 a.m.). —Two classes of murder—capital and non-capital—are defined in the capital-punishment clause of the Criminal Justice Bill.

The Attorney-General (Sir Hartley Shawcross) told the House of Commons that to come within the capital class, a murder must be committed with an excess of malice.

The Government, he said, would welcome Opposition help in the wording of the new capital punishment provisions, but intended to stick firmly to the provisions. Sir Hartley said "the clause did not attempt to -define degrees of murder or to classify cases according to their gravity, nor distinguish between premeditated and unpremeditated murders.

proposal was a convenient method of disposing of the difference of opinion between members of the Socialist Party and Cabinet. It was not the proper way to deal with a matter of such gravity. Juries would be asked to split hairs on the matter of intent while a man’s life was at stake.

The proposal would hamper the Home Secretary in the exercise of his now unlimited discretion.

The purpose of the clause was to cover those eases regarding which public opinion felt uneasy about the suspension of the death penalty. Mr Churchill said the Government’s

The metaphysical subtleties of the clause would place a task on juries beyond their capacity. It constituted an unintentional assault on trial by jury in capital cases.