Essay Case note on ahluwalia

Provocation was previously controlled under S2 of the homicide act 1957, the act stated where a person kills or is party to a killing of another, he shall not be convicted of murder if he was suffering from such abnormality of mind as substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing. The new defence S54-56 Coroners and Justice Act 2009 replaced defence of Provocation S3 Homicide Act 1957; it came into force October 2010.

The threat of violence and violence itself endures a very painful state of mind on the social control for women. As look at in this week reading 81 “Betrayed by the Angel” by Debra Anne Davis, she talks about a young girl who has endured violence at a young age in school. However this young girl never took the right offense into speaking up and protecting herself against this violence, so it begin to throw her mental off. For example the young lady begin to have thoughts such as her voice not being as angry as she wanted it to be when she wanted to speak on the violence. Also she felt as though that maybe she had deserved the violence after all if she did not feel as angry about it as she should have. But looked at on a higher perspective,

The Law Commission had proposed removing the loss of control criteria completely. This was because it was recognised that women in abusive relationships may kill from a combination of anger fear, frustration and a sense of desperation. The government decided not to follow this proposal. D must prove loss of self-control. The only concession is that loss of control need not be sudden. It is probable that some abused women will not be able to use the defence.

One Afternoon Syke Jones was discovered in his home by his wife Delia and pronounced dead due to a venomous snake bite. Soon after it was brought to the attention of the court that Delia has been charged with the case of his death. The case has been examined by the Jury on all accounts from the defender and prosecutor. We, the Jury, find Delia Jones not guilty on account of all chargers of murder or manslaughter. The Jury has come to this conclusion due to there being no intention of death on her part, she suffers from Battered Women’s Syndrome, And that she seems to be no threat to society then, now or in the future.

To discuss the role of the battered women’s syndrome in relation to how characteristics of a victim affect legal decision-making it is important to define what battered women’s syndrome is. Battered women’s syndrome is the array of physical and

Lavallee was a women that was abused by her significant other. Women all over the world are abused by their significant others, but only some women actually speak up and do something about it. Obviously killing a person is not the way to solve a problem. In this case Lavallee felt like if she didn’t kill or shoot Rust, he would have ended her life. The outcome of the court’s decision was appropriate to the fact that Lavallee suffered from battered women syndrome.

Scots Criminal Law recognises that sometimes people take the life of another due to a sudden temporary loss of self-control. In such circumstances where the perpetrator killed due to the fear of serious violence or discovery of sexual infidelity, being able to successfully prove that the perpetrator had been provoked to kill their victim is vital because the defence of provocation can mitigate a murder charge of murder to voluntary culpable homicide. In this essay, the discussion will involve assessing

1.2 Research Aims and Objectives The aims and objectives of this dissertation are to determine whether the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 has successfully addressed the issues that surrounded the defence of provocation. This will enable a determination to be made as to whether victims of domestic violence are now able to raise the defence of loss of self-control more easily and whether better protection is now being provided to those suffering from domestic violence and battered women’s syndrome. The development of case law concerning provocation will be critically analysed in order to understand the effectiveness of the new loss of control defence.1.3 Research Problem Although the introduction of a new loss of control defence was intended to rectify this area of the law, it seems as

However, for such defence to succeed, the first thing that must be established is that the threat made to defendants or to a person in close connection with them, is of death or serious physical harm. Duff identifies in one of his recent research , this raises an issue as, why one should not be able

There has been debate within the Australian Government about whether the defence of provocation should be changed or abolished. Over the years this defence has undergone changes through interpretation in cases and through legislative amendments. “Provocation; a totally flawed defence that has no place in Australia criminal law irrespective of sentencing regime”. These are the words of Andrew Hemming, a Senior Lecturer of Law within the School of Law and Justice at University of Southern Queensland. He states that provocation laws should be completely abolished throughout the whole of Australia not just in a few jurisdictions (Hemming, 2010). The current provocation laws in Queensland allow criminals to unethically downgrade their sentence

At age twenty-four Catherine lost her father Robert. He was both mentally unstable and incapable of caring for himself. Catherine assumed the responsibilities for her father when he became seriously ill. She dropped out of school and lived at home to take care of her father. Catherine’s father had passed away and since his death, Catherine has become mentally unstable herself. The prosecution believes the death of Robert has traumatized Catherine and is severely affecting her well-being. The defendant’s sister, Claire is fighting to gain authority because she feels Catherine is incapable of caring for herself. At this time I will review the evidence of this case and the risks at stake. When I am finished the court will conclude the evidence does in fact support Catherine is unable to support herself.

Walker’s Battered Woman Syndrome sought to explain the actions of an abuse victim who fought back and killed her attacker in the process. It suggests that a woman in this situation was justified in killing her abuser as a result of the circumstances she found herself in. This meant that any woman had tools with which to defend herself in the courtroom, and that any reasonable woman would use force in such circumstances when presented with the opportunity. It was an instinctual response to a

Under the new partial defence, there is a requirement for loss of self-control, a ‘qualifying trigger’ (s.55) through fear or anger, and D must also demonstrate reasonable self-restraint of his age and sex (s.54(1)(c)). Considering the previous notion too broad, Law Commission makes a deliberate decision to restrain the scope of partial defence.

In order for the Battered Woman Syndrome claim to be used expert testimony is essential. This is needed in order to give matter to the argument that justifies what the woman did. It is also needed because there needs to be an explanation of the Syndrome to juries, in away they can understand. Learned helplessness and other scientific knowledge need to be explained in order for the jury to understand. To understand what the woman is going through, what she was thinking at the time she committed the crime, and that she did it (murder her abuser) it because she honestly felt that it was the only solution in getting the “cycle of violence”. First, the women must show that she is able to prove either through her own testimony or through the testimony of other witnesses that she is a “battered woman”. She must then provide proof that the expert who she has chosen is qualified in the field. Some think that the defense based on Battered Woman Syndrome is an insanity defense, because of the experts who are brought in to explain the characteristics of the syndrome, psychologists or psychiatrists. Also because the word “syndrome” is often used to describe mental illnesses. “First her husband, now the courts”, is what one of the signs read at a march during

According to Kimmel, he states that that some women use violence as a tactic in family conflict while also understanding that men tend to use violence more instrumentally to control women’s lives. (Kimmel, 24 Researchers like Straus try to prove that women are the instigators to these physical altercation, and that creates a high amount of domestic violence. He said that according to 466 women involved in a violent relationship, their partner struck the first blow 43 percent of the cases, they hit first in 53.1 percent of the cases, and they could not