Alternative Offences and Defences to Murder An International Perspective

Over the past three decades, the operation of the partial defence of provocation has attracted significant community attention, scholarly debate and political interest in an international range of jurisdictions. In fact, it is difficult to locate a jurisdiction that has not confronted to some extent the problem of provocation, as multiple criminal jurisdictions have conducted reviews of the partial defences to murder, and implemented reforms targeted at minimising the influence of gender bias in the operation of the provocation defence. However, what is unique is that in attempting to solve the problems that arise in the operation of the provocation defence, international jurisdictions have pursued divergent approaches to reforming the law of provocation: broadly, oriented around its abolition, its replacement or its retention. It is these divergent approaches to reforming provocation and the intended and unintended consequences of each that are the focus of this book, which provides a much-needed comparative analysis of the effects of those reforms; offering valuable insights, analysis and law reform strategies for comparable jurisdictions that seek to address the problem of provocation in the future.

Introduction: Alternative Offences and Defences to Murder, Part I - Reforming the Law of Provocation, Chapter 1: Reforming the law of provocation: International debates and trends, Chapter 2: Restricting provocation – Excluding ‘undesirable’ contexts of homicide, Chapter 3: Replacing provocation – Alternative partial defences to murder, Chapter 4: Abolishing the law of provocation – Closing the door to injustice, Part II: Specialist Categories for Battered Women who Kill, Chapter 5: The merits of specialist categories for battered women, Chapter 6: A step forward or backwards? The Victorian experience, Chapter 7: The law of self-defence and alternatives to murder, Part III: Defences to Murder for Children who Kill: Understanding or Leniency?, Chapter 8: Offences and defences to murder for children who kill, Chapter 9: The defence of doli incapax: A useful protection or an out-dated law?, Chapter 10: The need for a specialist defence for children who kill, Part IIII: Legal Responses to ‘Single Punch’ Homicide, Chapter 11: Murder, manslaughter & the ‘single punch’ homicide: what fits best?, Chapter 12: Examining the merits of a one-punch homicide offence, Conclusion: Lessons from an International Perspective