... at that reduce the offence from one of murder to manslaughter - these are provocation, diminished responsibility and suicide pacts. These are known as voluntary manslaughter though perhaps they would be better termed 'intentional' manslaughter. * the second category is where the killing is done without the requisite malice aforethought for murder but in circumstances which are regarded as still meriting blame. These categories are known as involuntary manslaughter although again they would be better termed 'unintentional' manslaughter. These consist of: i) unlawful act manslaughter ii) gross negligence manslaughter iii) (possibly) 'foresight' manslaughter The effect of a conviction for manslaughter avoids the stigma of a 'murder' conviction and also avoids the mandatory life sentence. Though the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life, this is at the discretion of the judge who is able to impose any sentence from a discharge or probation up to that maximum. The sentence can reflect the degree of the accused's ...

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