Lesson 1-10: Offences against the person: Murder / Manslaughter

Unlawful killing continues to be a too frequent occurrence in post-war Kosovo. It is important that all killings, whatever the motive, are dealt with professionally and speedily by the KPS Investigators. A murder investigation demands a high level of skill and application. This lesson will begin the process of acquiring this skill by looking at the relevant offences under the Kosovo Penal Code.

As it can be seen, there are five basic offences of taking someone's life, only some of which include the notion of intentional killing.

In the criminal law, murder or homicide (synonyms) means intentionally causing the death of any person. Murder is distinguished from manslaughter, which means unintentional killing.

The goal of this lesson is to provide officers with an understanding of the different criminal offences of unlawful killing - taking someone's life as defined under Art. 30 - 35 of the Kosovo Penal Code - KPC (officially The Criminal Code of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo - enacted in 1977 by the Parliament of Kosovo (1977).

At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify the points to prove the Basic Offence of Murder
2. Explain how and why the intent is important to prove the offence of Murder
3. State the main ingredients of the Aggravated Forms of Murder
4. Describe the Offence of Manslaughter (Diminished Responsibility) – Murder of moment and Murder by negligence
5. State and define the three (3) additional criminal offences relating to Murder / Manslaughter
6. Apply all the definitions of the criminal offences (art. 30-35 KPC) of unlawful killing