Doctrine of merger

In common law jurisdictions, the doctrine of merger is a legal concept in criminal law. It is invoked when a charged offense is completely subsumed by another offense. To be correctly applied, the offense to be merged must have no different elements from the consuming offense.

Essentially, it prevents a defendant from being convicted of lesser included crimes along with the more serious crime. For example, the doctrine of merger prevents one from being convicted of attempted murder and murder because all of the elements of attempted murder are included in the crime of murder. Similarly, manslaughter cannot act as the "underlying felony" for the purposes of a felony murder charge, since it would have the effect of making all manslaughters felony murder


Criminal law
Accomplice Acquittal Arrest Arrest warrant Bail Barratry California Penal Code Citizen's arrest Civil death
Collective punishment Crime Crime in Canada Criminal Code Criminal justice Criminal procedure Doctrine of merger
Felony Felony murder Forensic psychiatry Hybrid offence Indictable offence Indictment Infraction Insanity defense
Labouchere Amendment Mens rea Miranda warning Misdemeanor Mug shot Negligence Nolle prosequi Outlaw Penology Prisons in the United States
Probable cause Queen's peace Rap sheet Retributive justice Rights of the accused Solicitation The Queen v Carroll Three strikes law Transferred intent
Transformative justice Whole life tariff Witness intimidation Year and a day rule


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