Homicide law reforms welcomed

New reforms to the law on homicide will make it much harder for those who kill out of anger to avoid a murder conviction by claiming that they were provoked, A Government consultation paper, 'Murder and Manslaughter: Proposals for Reform of the Law', launched by Justice Minister Maria Eagle, has announced 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; and * In exceptional circumstances only, killing in response to words and conduct which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.

Currently, defendants who successfully plead provocation can avoid the mandatory life sentence that a murder charge carries, instead receiving the lesser sentence of manslaughter. The proposed change comes in response to long-standing concerns that the centuries-old partial defence 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.

The consultation paper makes clear that a manslaughter conviction should be justified for killings carried out in anger only in exceptional circumstances - which do not include sexual infidelity on the part of the victim. Commenting on the announcement, Maria Eagle said, "Killers will no longer be able to chance their luck with a catch-all 'I was provoked' defence. For men and women who kill their partners these changes will mean that the letter of the law finally catches up with judges and juries, who in recent years have been less prone than people think to let men off lightly and punish women harshly.

However, in order to be fair they've had to stretch the law to its limits. With these changes, the law will be quite clear. " Welcoming the proposed changes Minister for Women Harriet Harman said, "For centuries the law has allowed men to escape a murder charge in domestic homicide cases by blaming the victim. Ending the provocation defence in cases of 'infidelity' is an important law change and will end the culture of excuses." 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.

Consultation documents are available at:
www.justice.gov.uk/publications/cp1908.htm