Sep 3, 2010
Conference Announcement: The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 – Panacea or Pandora’s Box for Partial Defences?
A conference will be held in Durham this September on the recent reform of the partial defences to murder in England and Wales. The focus of this conference is the imminent implementation of important rules relating to ‘loss of control’ and ‘diminished responsibility’ as partial defences to murder. The defence of provocation will be replaced by a new defence of loss of control, and subject to new qualifying triggers which address the circumstances in which the defendant was placed, rather than their relevant characteristics. A new test will be adopted for diminished responsibility replacing the old provision in section 2(1) of the Homicide Act 1957.
This conference provides an opportunity to step back and consider these vital revisions, by engaging with contributions from leading academics and practitioners in the area. Key Speakers will include: Professor Barry Mitchell, Coventry University, Mr James Chalmers, University of Edinburgh, Professor Susan Edwards, Buckingham University, Mr Rudi Fortson Q.C., 25 Bedford Row Chambers, M.M. Hedayati-Kakhi, Durham University, Professor Ronnie Mackay, De Montfort University, His Honour Judge Prince, The Honorary Recorder of Durham, Professor Paul Robinson, University of Pennsylvania
The conference will provide an overview and analysis on the new law, its relation to previous practice and potential problems ahead, including discussion centred around several specific concerns:
- domestic violence and BWS;
- revenge and mixed motive killings;
- sexual infidelity;
- mistaken beliefs;
- theoretical underpinnings of the defences;
- the Law Commission reformulations.
The conference will also include a range of comparative and international contributions to consider how other legal systems treat issues of human frailty short of full insanity within the criminal law.
For further information on the conference please visit the Durham Law School website here.
