Defences/Schuldausschließungsgründe
am 29.07.2008 von http://transblawg.eu
There are a number of defences in English criminal law (the US ones are not all the same), a bit like German Rechtfertigungsgründe and Schuldausschließungsgründe.
Some of them can be pleaded as defences to all offences (general defences). For instance, self-defence (Notwehr) is a general defence that applies to several offences against the person or against property - but actually not against all offences. Insanity is a general defence, but the consequences of being found insane are not much fun, so its only ever pleaded against murder.
Then there are special defences: diminished responsibility and provocation can only be pleaded if murder is charged. Those are also called partial defences, because if the defendant is successful in pleading them, the consequence will be a conviction for manslaughter, not an acquittal.
Some defences in the news recently: The canoeists wife Anne Darwin pleaded that her husband forced her to lie about his death, relying on the defence of marital coercion. See Times Online article. Whether or not Anne Darwin would have had to be in her husbands presence for the defence to apply, it was widely reported that she was no shrinking violet and possibly wore the trousers herself.
Today, the UK Ministry of Justice has published Murder, manslaughter and infanticide: proposals for reform of the law - the proposals include:
To abolish the existing partial defence of provocation and replace it with
new partial defences of:
o killing in response to a fear of serious violence; …
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» Anne Darwin: 'marital coercion' defence extremely rare - Times Online
The defence of marital coercion used by Anne Darwin is extremely rare with only five reported cases in the last 75 years." /><meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en" /><link rel="shortcut icon" t…
» New defence in domestic abuse cases | UK news | The Guardian
Reform aimed at ending bias against women driven to kill violent partners
» Home - Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the courts, prisons, probation, criminal law and sentencing. It was created on 9 May 2007.
» Murder, manslaughter and infanticide: proposals for reform of the law - Ministry of Justice
A consultation on government proposals to reform the law on partial defences to murder, the law of complicity in relation to homicide, and infanticide.
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