was murder ever legal anywhere?

Answer 1

no, i think as soon as there was a definition for the word "legal", murder was already illegal

Answer 2

Well, I know of one instance where it sort of was. In Gabon in Africa, if you murdered someone, the family then had an alotted amount of time (I think 2-3 days). In which they were allowed to take vengeance on you. After that they had to work within the law. I'm sure that something like that also existed in other places. You also can't ignore when it's self defence, although at that point you may be able to argue that it's not murder.

Answer 3

Yes, in many circumstances. But never absolutely legal.

For example, Samurai in ancient Japan were legally allowed to kill peasants. And historically, slave owners in many countries were allowed to kill their property.

In Biblical times, all of the religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- allowed the murder of specific individuals, by their family or by the community, if religious laws were violated.

But there has never been a civilization that unconditionally allowed any murder under any circumstances.

Answer 4

i don't think that murder has ever been legal but the definition of murder has varied a lot and there are times and places where there is no law.

Answer 5

remember some thing is "unlawful" because of the fact somebody exceeded a regulation asserting you won't be able to do some thing. So if an early human beings hadn't exceeded a regulation against homicide, you should declare homicide replaced into "criminal". whether i think from the earliest pre-historic cases homicide has been effectively unlawful. Even till now regulations tribes of human beings might have had their own regulations and values.