Preview

Evaluate The Effectiveness Of Law Reform Essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1121 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Evaluate The Effectiveness Of Law Reform Essay
Evaluate the Effectiveness of Law Reform in Dealing with Defences to Criminal Charges in the Criminal Justice System.

Evaluate: Make a judgment based on criteria
- Equality
- Accessibility (Draft Bill and Report)
- Enforceability (In the future - provocation bill)
- Resource Efficiency (Time taken to establish the committee and the time the committee has taken)
- Protection of Individual Rights
- Meeting Society’s Needs / How Responsive (Fast response due to media outcry)
- Rule of Law
- Achieving Justice (Is it better now for “society”, is there success for the abusers or the victims)

Law Reform - Provocation:
- Where an attacker loses control based on the actions or the words of the deceased person and where those action could have
…show more content…
(Committee report)
• Reform follows on from the April 2013 release of the Final Report of the Select Committee of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the operation of the partial defence of provocation
• “Without provocation, vulnerable defendants would be convicted of murder and risk long terms of imprisonment.” (Problem)
• In the most controversial cases, men who have killed a female intimate partner in response to a relationship separation or an alleged confession of infidelity have been able to avoid a conviction for murder by arguing that it was the non-violent conduct of the victim that provoked them to kill.

Evidence - Crimes Amendment (Provocation) Bill 2013 (NSW)
• Partial Defence of Extreme Provocation
The defence will now require the provocative conduct on part of the victim to be a serious indictable offence
Advantage to battered women

Evidence - Green v The Queen 1997

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    References: Schmalleger, F., Hall, D. E., & Dolatowski, J. J. (2010). Criminal Law Today: An introduction with…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Provocation was previously controlled under S2 of the homicide act 1957, the act stated where a person kills or is party to a killing of another, he shall not be convicted of murder if he was suffering from such abnormality of mind as substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing. The new defence S54-56 Coroners and Justice Act 2009 replaced defence of Provocation S3 Homicide Act 1957; it came into force October 2010.…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The victims’ movement that sprung up during the 1980s and early 1990s seemed to be a step in the right direction for helping the victims instead of the offenders. However, as pointed in “Victims Still”, this movement did not and has not helped the victim. The victim movement consisted of new legislation, institutions, and programs designed to help the victim. But when scrutinizing the policies, one the notices that many of the policies are deceiving. Rights that are supposedly being given to the victim are just rights that have been taken away from offenders only to strengthen the rights of the officials.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    every aspect of the victim as well as the offender. My research proposal aims to determine what,…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Law Reform Essay

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Without law reform the law would struggle to uphold relevance and obtain high compliance leaving a society in a state of anarchy. The key role of law reform is to reflect the social values of a community this includes new concepts of justice, changing social values and adopting changes of new technology. Youth Justice Conferences is a law reform crucial in society as without it youth offenders would almost indefinitely become criminal offenders a second time and the state would be to blame for leading children to continue down a criminal path. The introduction of Youth Justice Conferences gives offenders the opportunity to grow from their mistakes and see things from someone elses perspective weather that’s through community service, getting a part time job or simply seeing the direct affect of his actions on the victim. Youth Justice Conferences save people from the severity of the court system and allows them a second chance. The effectiveness of the law reform in Youth Justice Conferences is seen in the video of a young boy named Joe and other youth offenders to rehabilitate them and to keep them away from the court system and from getting a criminal record. This showed the positive outcome of what law reform could do. Without law reform a society starts pressuring the law and creating rallies and protests. The Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) has a significant standpoint in society today, as same sex marriage is not permitted in Australia. This is largely in contribution to religious traditions however, ‘ the definition’ relating to The Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) which is ‘the idea of what constitutes a family’ no longer reflects social values of a significant number of Australians. Law reform is necessary in this instance as it has the power to stop people from resulting to violence. This is evident in figure 4.2 on page 79 of Cambridge legal studies text book as it shows a protest in Australia due to the lack of law reform relating to same-sex…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is the effectiveness of the legal responses in achieving justice for women against domestic violence?…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Research and Analysis

    • 2539 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Caroletta, A. S. (2010). Male victims of intimate partner violence in the United States: An examination of the review of literature through the critical theoretical perspective. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 5(1), 163-173.…

    • 2539 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Assault In Criminal Law Essay

    • 10991 Words
    • 44 Pages

    * Assault * Battery * Criminal negligence * False imprisonment * Kidnapping * Mayhem * Robbery * Sexual assaultHomicide * Murder *…

    • 10991 Words
    • 44 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the Anglo-American modern theory of criminal law, provocation refers to the words or actions that the victim (sometimes referred to as a third party) can impose on the defendant, which can and in fact makes a rational defendant temporarily lose self-control. But the protection of provocation defense is the product of the common law.However, the common law in the recognition of the victim provocation defense, but the establishment of the provocation was very strict restrictions.In the traditional common law theory, the establishment of the victim Provocations have strict limits on the existence of a limited number of acts that can constitute provocation, and that the words, and the murder of the spouse or adulterous person by the spouse's…

    • 222 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Law Reform- My Report

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * Law reform is the change in laws as society’s morals and ethics change. Example-capital punishment.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The aim of this case is to present a contemporary criminal case. The case must have occurred in the last ten years. It must be an indictable offence, a more serious criminal charge where the defendant has the right to trial by jury and has been found guilty. The analysis of the case will be carried out through the extent which the law balances the rights of victims and offenders.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * Changing social values- The Law will reflect these changing social values i.e. Decriminalisation of homosexuality and prostitution.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States Surgeon General reports that domestic violence is the greatest single cause of injury among U.S. women, accounting for more emergency room visits than auto accidents, mugging and rape combined (Shupe). According to, The Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics Report, 95% of all documented domestic assault crimes are committed by men against women; in 1996 there were 15,000 calls to law enforcement agencies in Sacramento County for domestic violence response (FBI). It is very difficult to know the exact number of victims of domestic violence, especially sexual assault and other incidents committed by the intimate offenders, due to the many occurrences not reported to the police. There are many factors that victims consider in their decision not to report it to the police, but the greatest reason is the fear that threats to kill you or your family will become reality. Other reasons include embarrassment, shame and hopes that his promises to change will come true this time. There is an assumption in our society that there is a clear relationship between anger and physical violent behavior. However, anger is a human emotion and studies have shown that physical violence or abuse is a learnt behavior and the perpetrator is more often than not, going to repeat this behavior. All human beings experience anger at one time or another. People get angry with their…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recklessness

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The development of the law in this area will be looked out with the aid of case law such as R v Cunningham [1957] R v Caldwell [1982] and R v G [2003]. In order to identify and understand the concept of recklessness, intention needs to be discussed. The 19th century criminal legislation required that defendants had to have acted `maliciously’ and `unlawfully’ when committing an offence. The accused will act unlawfully if D fails to present a lawful reason for D’s act, D would be considered acting maliciously once D satisfies the level of Mens Rea required for the Actus Reus. The word `malicious’ introduces the requirement of Mens Rea. The statutory definition of `malice’ is, requiring an actual intention to do a particular kind of harm that in fact was done, or reckless as to whether such harm should occur or not. The accused has foreseen that…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Provocation Debate

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    * Provocation- common law, criminal defence * Either or both statutory or common law * Possible defence by excuse or exculpation alleging a sudden or temporary loss of control- in response to another’s provocative conduct to justify an acquittal, mitigated sentence or conviction of lesser charge * Can be relevant in a court’s assessment of a defendant’s mens rea, intention or state of mind at the time of the incident * In some cases in UK, Canada and several Australian states, the defence of provocation is available only against a charge of murder- and can reduce to manslaughter * Known as ‘voluntary manslaughter’ * In USA the Model Penal Code substitutes the broader standard of extreme emotional or mental distress for the comparatively narrower standard of provocation * Under USA Sentencing Guidelines for federal courts- ‘if the victim’s wrongful conduct contributed significantly to provoking the offence behaviour, the court may reduce the sentence below the guideline range the reflect the nature and circumstances of the offenceHistory- * Developed in English courts in 16th – 17th century * At that time a conviction of murder carried a death sentence- thus a lesser offence was needed * At the time it was seen as socially required for a man to respond with controlled violence if ‘his honour or dignity was insulted or threatened’ * It was then considered to be understandable that the violence might be excessive and end in murder * In the 19th century the idea of acceptable violence when insulted began to weaken * The circumstanced were changed to- while such responses may not be ideal, they were a normal reaction resulting from loss of self- control- and thus deserved mitigating circumstances * By the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century the defence of provocation and when it should be applied has caused much controversy * Many put it down to anachronism-…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays