Law Weblog

Government consult on reform of murder

Tuesday 29 July 2008 at 9:36 pm | In News | Post Comment

A government consultation paper, ‘Murder, manslaughter and infanticide: proposals for reform of the law’, launched today, proposes the abolition of the existing partial defence of provocation and its replacement with two new partial defences:

• killing in response to a fear of serious violence
• in exceptional circumstances only, killing in response to words and conduct which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.

The centuries-old (made statutory in 1957) partial of provocation impacts differently on men and women and is too generous to those who kill out of anger and too hard on those who kill out of fear of serious violence. A manslaughter conviction should only be justified for killings carried out in anger in exceptional circumstances – and this would not include sexual infidelity on the part of the victim.

A ministry spokesperson said that changing the law will end the injustice of women being killed by their husband and then being blamed. It will end the injustice of the perpetrators making excuses saying it’s not my fault – it’s hers.

The new proposals are intended to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system and send a clear message that the law is on their side and takes account of the experiences of those who kill in genuine fear of serious violence, for example a woman who repeatedly suffers domestic violence and finally kills her partner when she can suffer no more.

The consultation paper also proposes:
• streamlining the law of complicity to homicide to make it easier for courts to determine liability in cases where more than one person is involved in a killing
• clarifying the law on diminished responsibility
• clarifying the law on the handful of infanticide cases that are tried each year.

The consultation paper draws on recommendations made by the Law Commission, following their 2006 review of homicide law. There are no proposals to introduce American style grades of murder, such as first and second degree murder.
In comes…

• killing in response to a fear of serious violence
• killing in response to words and conduct which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged
• “words and conduct” incited by the defendant not an excuse
• defences apply if a person of the defendant’s sex and age etc might have reacted in the same or in a similar way
• new partial defence of diminished responsibility – a “recognised medical condition”

Out goes ….

• Provocation
• US Style categories
• Crime of passion (if it ever existed)
• Manslaughter for nagging spouse
• sexual infidelity not grounds for reducing murder to manslaughter
• loss of self-control in these circumstances to be “sudden”