Examples Of Justifiable Homicide
Whenever the word “homicide” comes into play, most people's first reaction is to quickly place blame on the individual involved. Although homicide is a terrible action, it can occasionally be justified under extremely specific laws. Not every case can be considered justifiable; however, the few that are would need to pass certain criteria in order to be named as such. Some of these circumstances include protecting oneself lawfully through self-defense, a soldier taking orders to fight in just wars, and law enforcement officers preventing a crime. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, justifiable homicide is the killing of a person in which it is reasonable or excused by law for which no criminal punishment is imposed (“Justifiable Homicide”).
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Although soldiers kill members of the opposing side for the greater good, their actions are still considered justified homicide; however, some guidelines have been set in order to help differentiate what is justifiable from what is unjustifiable. According to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentional attacks on a civilian population, harm to defenseless persons, and the misuse of a flag truce all fall under the category of being unjustifiable (Rome Statute of I.C.C. 5+). As long as the soldier were to be following orders at the time of the killing, the law states it is justifiable. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, murder is defined as the crime of unlawfully killing a person, especially with malice aforethought (“Murder”). In order for homicide to be legal in a war setting, the soldier must commit the killing by following all of the set rules. A killing can not legally occur if the person were to be clearly unarmed and not dangerous. A killing of that sort could occur, but it would not technically be justifiable. If it weren't for these laws, every soldier that went out and killed someone would have to be charged for murder. This clearly doesn't make sense by any means; therefore, justified homicide is utterly relevant in this
Although soldiers kill members of the opposing side for the greater good, their actions are still considered justified homicide; however, some guidelines have been set in order to help differentiate what is justifiable from what is unjustifiable. According to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentional attacks on a civilian population, harm to defenseless persons, and the misuse of a flag truce all fall under the category of being unjustifiable (Rome Statute of I.C.C. 5+). As long as the soldier were to be following orders at the time of the killing, the law states it is justifiable. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, murder is defined as the crime of unlawfully killing a person, especially with malice aforethought (“Murder”). In order for homicide to be legal in a war setting, the soldier must commit the killing by following all of the set rules. A killing can not legally occur if the person were to be clearly unarmed and not dangerous. A killing of that sort could occur, but it would not technically be justifiable. If it weren't for these laws, every soldier that went out and killed someone would have to be charged for murder. This clearly doesn't make sense by any means; therefore, justified homicide is utterly relevant in this