murder, manslaughter和homicide均有“杀人”的含义，但是在法律中的使用情况有所不同：

 

1. Murder

 

英英释义：

Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent (or malice aforethought), and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter).

 

《元照英美法词典》释义：

谋杀；谋杀罪

在普通法上，谋杀罪的定义是：有预谋恶意地非法终止他人生命的行为。在英国的制定法上，谋杀罪是指心理健全的人在联合王国领土内事先有预谋地将他人杀害，而被害人在其实施杀人行为后一年之内死亡的行为。对谋杀罪只能通过正式起诉程序审判，对谋杀罪唯一的刑罚是终身监禁〔life imprisonment〕。但是，安乐死案件则罕有以谋杀罪判处的，而是被判以具有减轻情节的非预谋杀人罪〔manslaughter by diminished responsibility〕。在美国，大多数州在制定法上规定了谋杀罪的定义，其中，有些州的制定法仍沿用普通法关于谋杀罪的定义。美国《模范刑法典》〔Model Penal Code〕规定：有目的地或者明知地实施刑事杀人〔criminal homicide〕行为，或者在对人的生命价值持极度轻率〔recklessly〕、冷漠〔indifference〕之态度下实施的刑事杀人行为，构成谋杀罪。如果行为人单独或者与他人共同实施或着手实施抢劫〔robbery〕、放火〔arson〕、夜盗〔burglary〕、绑架〔kidnapping〕、重罪脱逃〔felonious escape〕、强奸或者以暴力或以暴力相威胁之变态性交行为〔deviate sexual intercourse〕过程中致被害人死亡的，则推定行为人具有上述之极度轻率与冷漠。在英美法上，早先，谋杀罪必须由预谋恶意〔malice aforethought〕构成。其中，恶意〔malice〕是指杀人意图，有时还指憎恨、怀恨等心理因素；预谋〔aforethought〕是指杀人意图在杀人行为之前产生。后来，法官在司法实践中又创制出一些新类型的谋杀罪，即早先意义上的预谋含义渐趋消失。例如：１被告人受到被害人行为激怒而故意地杀死被害人，并且这种激情是不正常的。行为人虽然因情绪激动不可能有预先谋划，但仍应定为谋杀罪；２行为人在犯一个重罪过程中非故意地使他人丧生。譬如，甲放火烧乙的房子，结果烧死了乙家一人，行为人虽无杀人意图，法官仍定为谋杀罪；３行为人在极其轻率的行为中非故意地使他人丧生。譬如，建筑工人甲事先看都不看一眼就从房顶上往下扔砖头，而下面正是人来人往的大马路，致砖头砸死行人乙。行为人虽无杀人意图，法官仍定为谋杀罪；４法官还打破「预先存在杀人意图」是谋杀罪唯一类型的观念，认为事先存在重伤意图的行为致人死亡亦是谋杀罪。在制定法上，谋杀罪的现代类型有：存在杀人意图的谋杀、意图实施重伤害的谋杀、重罪谋杀、极端轻率谋杀、抗拒合法逮捕谋杀等。

 

例如

The author stressed in the affidavit that the reason why the murderers of her husband had not been identified or arrested was because the murder had been organized by the police officers who had threatened [...] the author and her family on various occasions.

提交人在证词中强调指出，不查明或逮 捕 杀害 其丈 夫凶手的 原因是谋杀案系由 警方人员策划的，他们曾多次威胁提交人及其家人。

 

In some cases, those who had engaged in violence or murder on grounds of religion had pointed to such laws as justification for their actions.

在一些情形中，那些参与基于宗教的暴 力或 谋杀 的人将 此类法律作为其采取行动的理由。

 

2. Manslaughter

 

英英释义：

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable  than murder.

 

The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of homicide, where murder requires either the intent to kill, a state of mind called malice, or malice aforethought, which may involve an unintentional killing but with a wilful disregard for life. Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories: voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

 

《元照英美法词典》释义：

非预谋杀人罪

指无预谋恶意地非法终止他人生命的行为。普通法把非预谋杀人罪分为非预谋故意杀人〔voluntary manslaughter〕和过失杀人〔involuntary manslaughter〕两类，对前者的处罚重于后者。现美国多数司法区仍采用此种分类法，但有些司法区采用了新的分类标准，如纽约州〔New York〕按刑罚轻重将非谋杀罪分为一级非谋杀罪和二级非谋杀罪；新泽西州〔New Jersey〕分为加重非谋杀罪和一般非谋杀罪。

 

例如

Crime cases include murder and manslaughter, rape, indecent assault, wounding, serious assault, criminal intimidation, criminal damage and [...] possession of offensive weapon, and so on.

刑事案件包括谋杀及误杀、强 奸、非礼、伤人、严重殴打、刑事恐吓、刑事毁 坏及藏有攻击性武器等。

 

Any person who is convicted of manslaughter shall be liable to imprisonment for life and to pay such fine as the court may award.

任何人被裁定犯误杀罪，可处终身监禁 及罚缴由法庭判定的罚款。

 

3. Homicide

 

Homicide (Latin: homicidium, Latin: homo human being + Latin: caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of a human killing a human being. A common form of homicide, for example, would be murder. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Homicide is not always an illegal act, so although “homicide” is often used as a synonym for “murder”, this is not formally correct.

 

《元照英美法词典》释义：

杀人

指一人导致或促使他人死亡的一般用语。该词是中性词，只描述客观行为，而对其道德或法律性质并没有作出判断。杀人并不必然构成犯罪，在依法执行死刑、自卫以及作为追捕逃犯的唯一可能手段时，杀人则是合法的。但如果一人蓄意、明知、轻率或疏忽致使他人死亡的，该人则犯有杀人罪。英美普通法和制定法都把杀人罪分为谋杀〔murder〕和非预谋杀人〔manslaughter〕。在苏格兰，杀人分为有罪杀人〔culpable homicide〕、正当杀人〔justifiable homicide〕以及意外、疏忽或可宽恕杀人〔accidental, negligent, or excusable homicide〕。

 

例如

This includes monitoring programmes associated with armed robbery, deaths in custody, firearms theft, fraud experienced by the Government of Australia, homicide and police custody.

其中包括与持枪抢劫、拘留期间死亡、 枪支盗窃、澳大利亚政府遇到的欺诈行为、凶杀和羁押有关的监测方案。

 

Against this background, increasing activity of organized criminal groups and increasing availability of firearms have often triggered increasing levels of homicide.

在这一背景之下，有组织犯 罪集团的活动日益频繁以及枪支的获得更加方便经常导致杀人犯罪率的上升。