ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the case for having a category of second degree murder in English law. The introduction of a 'homicide ladder' was recommended by the Law Commission in 2006. The chapter compares the merits of introducing a second degree murder category with alternative ways of reducing the scope to apply the mandatory life sentence, through an examination of the English historical background to the issues. It considers an important source somewhat neglected by criminal lawyers, the Report of the Commission on Capital Punishment of 1866. The Victorian period saw lively debate over the future of the criminal law, through Parliamentary reform. As early as 1843, law reformer Charles HB Ker had expressed the view that, '9/10th of the Criminal Law is already Statute Law'. The procedural context against which the 1866 Committee deliberations were conducted was in significant ways different from the background to the Law Commission's recommendations.
