Part 3Offences against the person etc

Part 3—Offences against the person etc Division 1—Homicide 11—Murder Any person who commits murder shall be guilty of an offence and shall be imprisoned for life. 12—Conspiring or soliciting to commit murder Any person who— (a) conspires, confederates and agrees with any other person to murder any person, whether he is a subject of Her Majesty or not and whether he is within the Queen's dominions or not; (b) solicits, encourages, persuades or endeavours to persuade, or proposes to, any person to murder any other person, whether he is a subject of Her Majesty or not and whether he is within the Queen's dominions or not, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to be imprisoned for life. 12A—Causing death by an intentional act of violence A person who commits an intentional act of violence while acting in the course or furtherance of a major indictable offence punishable by imprisonment for ten years or more, and thus causes the death of another, is guilty of murder. 13—Manslaughter (1) Any person who is convicted of manslaughter shall be liable to be imprisoned for life or to pay such fine as the court awards or to both such imprisonment and fine. (2) If a court convicting a person of manslaughter is satisfied that the victim's death was caused by the convicted person's use of a motor vehicle, the court must order that the person be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for 10 years or such longer period as the court orders. (3) Where a convicted person is disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence— (a) the disqualification operates to cancel any driver's licence held by the convicted person as at the commencement of the period of disqualification; and 13A—Criminal liability in relation to suicide (1) It is not an offence to commit or attempt to commit suicide. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), a person who finds another committing or about to commit an act which he believes on reasonable grounds would, if committed or completed, result in suicide is justified in using reasonable force to prevent the commission or completion of the act. (3) If on the trial of a person for the murder of another the jury is satisfied that the accused killed the other, or was a party to the other being killed by a third person, but is further satisfied that the acts or omissions alleged against the accused were done or made in pursuance of a suicide pact with the person killed, then, subject to subsection (11), the jury shall not find the accused guilty of murder but may bring in a verdict of manslaughter. (4) The killing of another or an attempt to kill another in pursuance of a suicide pact shall, for the purposes of determining the criminal liability of a person who was a party to the killing or attempt but not a party to the suicide pact, be regarded as murder or attempted murder, as the case may require. (5) A person who aids, abets or counsels the suicide of another, or an attempt by another to commit suicide, shall be guilty of an indictable offence. (6) The penalty for an offence against subsection (5) shall be— (a) subject to paragraph (b)— (i) where suicide was committed—imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years; (ii) where suicide was attempted—imprisonment for a term not exceeding eight years; (b) where the convicted person committed the offence in pursuance of a suicide pact and— (i) suicide was committed—imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; (ii) suicide was attempted—imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. (7) A person who, by fraud, duress or undue influence, procures the suicide of another or an attempt by another to commit suicide shall (whether or not he was a party to a suicide pact with the other person) be guilty of murder or attempted murder, as the case may require. (8) If on the trial of a person for murder or attempted murder the jury is not satisfied that the accused is guilty of the offence charged but is satisfied that he is guilty of an offence against subsection (5), the jury may bring in a verdict that he is guilty of an offence against that subsection. (9) In any criminal proceedings in which it is material to establish the existence of a suicide pact and whether an act was done, or an omission made, in pursuance of the pact, the onus of proving the existence of the pact and that the act was done, or the omission made, in pursuance of the pact shall lie on the accused. (10) For the purposes of this section— (a) suicide pact means an agreement between two or more persons having for its object the death of all of them whether or not each is to take his own life; and (b) nothing done or omitted to be done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done or omitted to be done in pursuance of the pact unless it is done or omitted to be done while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact. (11) Where a person induced another to enter into a suicide pact by means of fraud, duress or undue influence, the person is not entitled in relation to an offence against the other to any mitigation of criminal liability or penalty under this section based on the existence of the pact. (12) To avoid doubt, the death of a person by the administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance in accordance with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 does not constitute suicide. See section 6 of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021.