To begin, here’s the definition. Beware of an impending headache.

Murder is the unlawful killing of any reasonable creature in rerum natura under the Queen’s peace with malice aforethought.

Sir Edward Coke’s Institutes of the Lawes of England (series of legal treatrises)

Any Reasonable Creature in Rerum Natura

“Any reasonable creature in rerum natura” is so wordy. What does it mean? Well, it basically means “any human being”. And a human being, legally speaking, requires the severing of the umbilical cord. The baby must exist (live) for any amount of time independently of the mother.

Under the Queen’s Peace

We’ll focus on the modern meaning. It means that as long as the alleged criminal is the Queen’s subject, they can be tried and convicted in England or Wales. Another definition you may find is that the phrase excludes convictions of killing during wartime.

Malice Aforethought

This indicates an intention to murder or cause grievous bodily harm.

Highlight: R v Crutchley (1837)

This is an interesting case that goes back to the first part of the definition we clarified.

TLDR: A mother strangled her newborn baby. The key fact here is that the umbilical cord had not been cut. Was this murder?

Held: Not murder, because it doesn’t satisfy the definition established above. The baby had not been completely delivered and was therefore not living independently from the mother.

To cleanse your mental palate of murder, why not check out this post about two billionaires fighting over art fraud?