Editing Murder (section)

===Exclusions===

====General====
Although laws vary by country, there are circumstances of exclusion that are common in many legal systems.
* The killing of enemy combatants who have not surrendered, when committed by lawful combatants in accordance with lawful orders in war, is generally not considered murder.  Illicit killings within a war may constitute murder or homicidal [[war crime]]s; see [[Laws of war]].
* [[Right of self-defense|Self-defense]]: acting in self-defense or in defense of another person is generally accepted as legal justification for killing a person in situations that would otherwise have been murder. However, a self-defense killing might be considered manslaughter if the killer established control of the situation before the killing took place, such as [[imperfect self-defense]]. In the case of self-defense, it is called a "justifiable homicide".<ref name="crim liability">{{cite web|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000278633&dateTexte=|title=Article 122-5|access-date=2007-11-01|publisher=Legifrance|author=The French Parliament|website=French Criminal Law|language=fr|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408162844/http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000278633&dateTexte=|archive-date=2008-04-08}}</ref>
* Unlawful killings without malice or intent are considered manslaughter.
* In many common law countries, [[provocation (legal)|provocation]] is a partial defense to a charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise have been murder into manslaughter (this is voluntary manslaughter, which is more severe than involuntary manslaughter).
* Accidental killings are considered homicides. Depending on the circumstances, these may or may not be considered criminal offenses; they are often considered manslaughter.
* Suicide does not constitute murder in most societies. Assisting a suicide, however, may be considered murder in some circumstances.

====Specific to certain countries====
* [[Capital punishment]]: some countries practice the death penalty. Capital punishment may be ordered by a legitimate court of law as the result of a conviction in a [[criminal trial]] with [[due process]] for a serious crime. All member states of the [[Council of Europe]] are prohibited from using the death penalty.
* [[Euthanasia]], doctor-assisted suicide: the administration of lethal drugs by a doctor to a [[terminally ill]] patient, if the intention is solely to alleviate pain, in many jurisdictions it is seen as a special case (see the doctrine of [[double effect]] and the case of [[John Bodkin Adams|Dr John Bodkin Adams]]).<ref name="google1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mDvBJ5J4tusC&q=%22Thomas+Lodwig%22+dr&pg=PA177 |title=Margaret Otlowski, ''Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law'', Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 175–177 |access-date=2010-06-25|isbn=978-0-19-825996-1|year=1997|last1=Otlowski |first1=Margaret |publisher=Clarendon Press }}</ref>
* Killing to prevent the theft of one's property may be legal under certain circumstances, depending on the jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3880630#.UcGy2diVXFI|title=Man Kills Suspected Intruders While Protecting Neighbor's Property|website=ABC News|access-date=2014-10-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018005420/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3880630#.UcGy2diVXFI|archive-date=2014-10-18}}</ref><ref>see [[Joe Horn shooting controversy]]</ref> In 2013, a jury in south Texas acquitted a man who killed a [[sex worker]] who attempted to run away with his money.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/video/texas-man-acquitted-killing-craigslist-042716929.html|title=Texas man acquitted of killing Craigslist escort|date=7 June 2013|website=Yahoo News|access-date=2014-10-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018221333/http://news.yahoo.com/video/texas-man-acquitted-killing-craigslist-042716929.html|archive-date=18 October 2014}}</ref>
* Killing an intruder who is found by an owner to be in the owner's home (having entered unlawfully): legal in most US states (see [[Castle doctrine]]).<ref name=njsd>{{cite web|url=http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A0500/159_I1.PDF|title=Assembly, No. 159, State of New Jersey, 213th Legislature, The "New Jersey Self Defense Law"|date=May 6, 2008|access-date=2017-10-03|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902001532/http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A0500/159_I1.PDF|archive-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref>
* Killing to prevent specific forms of aggravated rape or [[sexual assault]] – killing of attacker by the potential victim or by witnesses to the scene; legal in parts of the US and in various other countries.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/5-2-self-defense/|title=Criminal Law|publisher=University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1-946135-08-7|location=University of Minnesota|chapter=5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130091256/http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/5-2-self-defense/|archive-date=2018-01-30}}</ref>
* In some countries, the killing for what are considered reasons connected to [[family honor]], usually involving killing due to sexual, religious or [[caste]] reasons (known as [[honor killing]]), committed frequently by a husband, father or male relative of the victim, is not considered murder; it may not be considered a criminal act or it may be considered a criminal offense other than murder.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/hk-ch/p1.html|title = Introduction - Preliminary Examination of so-called honour killings in canada|date = 24 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://daraj.media/en/36602/ | title="Honour" Killings in Yemen: Tribal Tradition and the Law - Daraj | date=19 December 2019 }}</ref> International law, including the [[Istanbul Convention]] (the first legally binding convention against [[domestic violence]] and [[violence against women]]) prohibits these types of killings (see Article 42 – Unacceptable justifications for crimes, including crimes committed in the name of so-called honor).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list?module=treaty-detail&treatynum=210 | title=Full list - Treaty Office - www.coe.int }}</ref>
* In the United States, in most states and in federal jurisdiction, a killing by a police officer is excluded from prosecution if the officer reasonably believes they are being threatened with deadly force by the victim. This may include such actions by the victim as reaching into a glove compartment or pocket for license and registration, if the officer reasonably believes that the victim might be reaching for a gun.<ref name="NYT72816">{{cite news|author1=Joseph Goldstein|title=Is a Police Shooting a Crime? It Depends on the Officer's Point of View|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/nyregion/is-a-police-shooting-a-crime-it-depends-on-the-officers-point-of-view.html|access-date=July 29, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=July 28, 2016|quote=The longstanding official deference to the viewpoint of police officers is enshrined in the laws of some states and Supreme Court rulings.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801120501/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/nyregion/is-a-police-shooting-a-crime-it-depends-on-the-officers-point-of-view.html|archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>