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Defences to homicide paper focuses on gender bias and mental impairment
26 September 2003
The Victorian Law Reform Commission today released its Options Paper on reform of defences to homicide. The Paper argues that the law needs to be changed to deal fairly with the different situations in which men and women kill.
‘A man who loses his temper and kills his partner, because he believes she has been unfaithful or because she is leaving him, can rely on provocation and may be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, Professor Neave, Chairperson of the Commission, said. ‘But a woman who kills a partner in response to long term domestic violence may be convicted of murder because provocation does not apply.’ Provocation has been abolished in Tasmania. ‘Maybe we need a similar reform to remove gender bias from Victorian law’, said Professor Neave.
The Paper also considers the introduction of an excuse of diminished responsibility, which would allow people who have a mental condition at the time that they kill to be convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder. ‘It seems anomalous that a person who kills when they are angry may be convicted of manslaughter, because they were provoked, whereas a person who kills while suffering from a mental condition may be convicted of murder. Diminished responsibility, which allows a person to be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, is already available in a number of other Australian jurisdictions’ said Professor Neave.
The Options Paper identifies a range of possible changes to the current defences to homicide, including restriction or abolition of provocation and widening the ambit of self-defence to make it easier for people who kill in response to long-term violence to rely on this defence. ‘We hope that members of the community will take the opportunity to express their views on possible reform options’ Professor Neave said.
The Paper is available at www.lawreform.vic.gov.au and submissions are welcome until 28 November 2003. A Final Report will be published next year.