Zusammenfassung der Ressource
VM Evaluation
- DR
- Reformed by Coroners & Justice Act 2009
- Inclusion of 'recognised medical
condition' due to 2006 Law Commission
Report: Murder, Manslaughter and
Infanticide
- Incorporates Byrne into the
statutory definition
- Burden of proof
- Should it be on D?
- Most other defences D need only
raise them and P must disprove
- Breach of Art 6(2) - 'everyone
charged with a criminal offence
shall be presumed to be innocent
until proven guilty'?
- Developmental immaturity
- 2006 report
- Should under 18's
be included within
the definition of DR?
- Evidence suggests frontal lobes of
the brain which are responsible for
self-control and controlling impulsive
behaviour do not mature until 14
- Govt took the view that learning
disabilities and autism spectrum
disorders were suffiicient in the context
- This is not the same and means that children as young as 10 can be
convicted of murder just because they have not reached a certain stage of
development
- LC
- LC proposed removal of loss of self control criteria completely as it is
recognised that women in abusive relationships may kill from 'a
combination of anger, fear, frustration and a sense of desperation'.
- Only concession govt made was that it need not be sudden
- It is probable that some abused women will be
unable to show loss of control so will not be able
to use the defence
- Sexual infidelity
- Provocation was
created largely to cover
this circumstance but it
is expressly
disregarded under s55
- Fear of serious violence
- Largely added to cover cases like
Clegg and Martin but proving loss of
control makes it difficult to use
- Provocation
- Was largely common law
- Homicide Act 1957 set out some tests but was insufficient
- Until Camplin (1978) the
reasonable man was
considered an adult regardless of D's age
- Camplin also allowed the gravity of provocation
(now circumstances). This was a wider
consideration than circumstances
- Morhall: Lords allowed
addiction to glue sniffing to be
considered in the gravity of
provocation
- Grave character helps avoid
repugnant results (e.g Doughty)
especially with use of an objective test
for the justifiable element of the QT