19 Oct 2009

Green light for abolition of provocation defence

8:32 pm on 19 October 2009

s] The select committee report on a bill aimed at abolishing provocation as a partial defence in homicide cases says it should be passed without any major changes.

The select committee report on a bill aimed at abolishing provocation as a partial defence in homicide cases says it should be passed without any major changes.

The justice and electoral Committee issued its report on Monday.

One argument put before the committee was that provocation should mandatorily be taken into account when a defendant is sentenced, but the committee says judges will be able to use their discretion.

Concerns were also raised that defendants described as "battered" or mentally ill or impaired might be disadvantaged by the law change, but committee members did not agree.