229.Culpable
homicide is murder
(a) where the person
who causes the death of a human being
(i) means to cause his
death, or
(ii) means to cause him
bodily harm that he knows is likely to cause his death, and is reckless whether
death ensues or not;
(b) where a person,
meaning to cause death to a human being or meaning to cause him bodily harm
that he knows is likely to cause his death, and being reckless whether death
ensues or not, by accident or mistake causes death to another human being,
notwithstanding that he does not mean to cause death or bodily harm to that
human being; or
(c) where a person,
for an unlawful object, does anything that he knows or ought to know is likely
to cause death, and thereby causes death to a human being, notwithstanding that
he desires to effect his object without causing death or bodily harm to any
human being.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 212.
Murder in
commission of offences
230.Culpable
homicide is murder where a person causes the death of a human being while
committing or attempting to commit high treason or treason or an offence
mentioned in section 52 (sabotage), 75 (piratical acts), 76 (hijacking an
aircraft), 144 or subsection 145(1) or sections 146 to 148 (escape or rescue
from prison or lawful custody), section 270 (assaulting a peace officer),
section 271 (sexual assault), 272 (sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a
third party or causing bodily harm), 273 (aggravated sexual assault), 279
(kidnapping and forcible confinement), 279.1 (hostage taking), 343 (robbery),
348 (breaking and entering) or 433 or 434 (arson), whether or not the person
means to cause death to any human being and whether or not he knows that death
is likely to be caused to any human being, if
(a) he means to
cause bodily harm for the purpose of
(i) facilitating the
commission of the offence, or
(ii) facilitating his
flight after committing or attempting to commit the offence,
and the death ensues from
the bodily harm;
(b) he administers a
stupefying or overpowering thing for a purpose mentioned in paragraph (a),
and the death ensues therefrom; or
(c) he wilfully
stops, by any means, the breath of a human being for a purpose mentioned in
paragraph (a), and the death ensues therefrom.
(d) [Repealed, 1991,
c. 4, s. 1]
R.S.,
1985, c. C-46, s. 230; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 40; 1991, c. 4, s. 1.
Classification
of murder
231.(1) Murder is first degree murder or second degree
murder.
Planned and deliberate murder
(2) Murder is first degree
murder when it is planned and deliberate.
Contracted murder
(3) Without limiting the
generality of subsection (2), murder is planned and deliberate when it is
committed pursuant to an arrangement under which money or anything of value
passes or is intended to pass from one person to another, or is promised by one
person to another, as consideration for that other's causing or assisting in
causing the death of anyone or counselling another person to do any act causing
or assisting in causing that death.
Murder of peace officer, etc.
(4) Irrespective of whether
a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of any person, murder is first
degree murder when the victim is
(a) a police
officer, police constable, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, sheriff's
officer or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the
public peace, acting in the course of his duties;
(b) a warden, deputy
warden, instructor, keeper, jailer, guard or other officer or a permanent
employee of a prison, acting in the course of his duties; or
(c) a person working
in a prison with the permission of the prison authorities and acting in the
course of his work therein.
Hijacking, sexual assault or kidnapping
(5) Irrespective of whether
a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of any person, murder is first
degree murder in respect of a person when the death is caused by that person
while committing or attempting to commit an offence under one of the following
sections:
(a) section 76
(hijacking an aircraft);
(b) section 271
(sexual assault);
(c) section 272
(sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily
harm);
(d) section 273
(aggravated sexual assault);
(e) section 279
(kidnapping and forcible confinement); or
(f) section 279.1
(hostage taking).
Criminal harassment
(6) Irrespective of whether
a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of any person, murder is first
degree murder when the death is caused by that person while committing or
attempting to commit an offence under section 264 and the person committing that
offence intended to cause the person murdered to fear for the safety of the
person murdered or the safety of anyone known to the person murdered.
Murder during terrorist activity
(6.01) Irrespective of
whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of a person, murder is
first degree murder when the death is caused while committing or attempting to
commit an indictable offence under this or any other Act of Parliament where
the act or omission constituting the offence also constitutes a terrorist
activity.
Using explosives in association with criminal
organization
(6.1) Irrespective of
whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of a person, murder is
first degree murder when the death is caused while committing or attempting to
commit an offence under section 81 for the benefit of, at the direction of or
in association with a criminal organization.
Intimidation
(6.2) Irrespective of
whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of a person, murder is
first degree murder when the death is caused while committing or attempting to
commit an offence under section 423.1.
Second degree murder
(7) All murder that is not
first degree murder is second degree murder.
R.S.,
1985, c. C-46, s. 231; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), ss. 7, 35, 40, 185(F), c.
1 (4th Supp.), s. 18(F); 1997, c. 16, s. 3, c. 23, s. 8; 2001, c. 32, s. 9, c.
41, s. 9.
Murder reduced to manslaughter
232.(1) Culpable homicide that otherwise would be
murder may be reduced to manslaughter if the person who committed it did so in
the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation.
What is provocation
(2) A wrongful act or an
insult that is of such a nature as to be sufficient to deprive an ordinary
person of the power of self-control is provocation for the purposes of this
section if the accused acted on it on the sudden and before there was time for
his passion to cool.
Questions of fact
(3) For the purposes of
this section, the questions
(a) whether a
particular wrongful act or insult amounted to provocation, and
(b) whether the
accused was deprived of the power of self-control by the provocation that he
alleges he received,
are
questions of fact, but no one shall be deemed to have given provocation to
another by doing anything that he had a legal right to do, or by doing anything
that the accused incited him to do in order to provide the accused with an
excuse for causing death or bodily harm to any human being.
Death during illegal arrest
(4) Culpable homicide that
otherwise would be murder is not necessarily manslaughter by reason only that
it was committed by a person who was being arrested illegally, but the fact
that the illegality of the arrest was known to the accused may be evidence of
provocation for the purpose of this section.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 215.
Infanticide
233.A female
person commits infanticide when by a wilful act or omission she causes the
death of her newly-born child, if at the time of the act or omission she is not
fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child and by reason
thereof or of the effect of lactation consequent on the birth of the child her
mind is then disturbed.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 216.
Manslaughter
234.Culpable
homicide that is not murder or infanticide is manslaughter.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 217.
Punishment for murder
235.(1) Every one who commits first degree murder or
second degree murder is guilty of an indictable offence and shall be sentenced
to imprisonment for life.
Minimum punishment
(2) For the purposes of
Part XXIII, the sentence of imprisonment for life prescribed by this section is
a minimum punishment.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 218; 1973-74, c. 38, s. 3; 1974-75-76, c. 105, s. 5.
Manslaughter
236.Every
person who commits manslaughter is guilty of an indictable offence and liable
(a) where a firearm
is used in the commission of the offence, to imprisonment for life and to a
minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of four years; and
(b) in any other
case, to imprisonment for life.
R.S.,
1985, c. C-46, s. 236; 1995, c. 39, s. 142.
Punishment for infanticide
237.Every
female person who commits infanticide is guilty of an indictable offence and
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 220.
Killing unborn child in act of birth
238.(1) Every one who causes the death, in the act of
birth, of any child that has not become a human being, in such a manner that,
if the child were a human being, he would be guilty of murder, is guilty of an
indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.
Saving
(2) This section does not
apply to a person who, by means that, in good faith, he considers necessary to
preserve the life of the mother of a child, causes the death of that child.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 221.
Attempt to commit murder
239.(1) Every person who attempts by any means to
commit murder is guilty of an indictable offence and liable
(a) if a restricted
firearm or prohibited firearm is used in the commission of the offence or if
any firearm is used in the commission of the offence and the offence is
committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a
criminal organization, to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of
imprisonment for a term of
(i) in the case of a first
offence, five years, and
(ii) in the case of a
second or subsequent offence, seven years;
(a.1) in any other
case where a firearm is used in the commission of the offence, to imprisonment
for life and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of four years;
and
(b) in any other
case, to imprisonment for life.
Subsequent offences
(2) In determining, for the
purpose of paragraph (1)(a), whether a convicted person has committed a
second or subsequent offence, if the person was earlier convicted of any of the
following offences, that offence is to be considered as an earlier offence:
(a) an offence under
this section;
(b) an offence under
subsection 85(1) or (2) or section 244; or
(c) an offence under
section 220, 236, 272 or 273, subsection 279(1) or section 279.1, 344 or 346 if
a firearm was used in the commission of the offence.
However,
an earlier offence shall not be taken into account if 10 years have elapsed
between the day on which the person was convicted of the earlier offence and
the day on which the person was convicted of the offence for which sentence is
being imposed, not taking into account any time in custody.
Sequence of convictions only
(3) For the purposes of
subsection (2), the only question to be considered is the sequence of
convictions and no consideration shall be given to the sequence of commission
of offences or whether any offence occurred before or after any conviction.
R.S.,
1985, c. C-46, s. 239; 1995, c. 39, s. 143; 2008, c. 6, s. 16.
Accessory after fact to murder
240.Every one
who is an accessory after the fact to murder is guilty of an indictable offence
and liable to imprisonment for life.
R.S., c.
C-34, s. 223.