343

House of Commons

Notices of Amendments

given on

Friday 13 March 2009

For other Amendment(s) see the following page(s) of Supplement to Votes:

297, 299-300 and 313-15

Consideration of Bill

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Coroners and Justice Bill, As Amended

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

14

Page  25,  line  2,  leave out Clause 41.

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

15

Page  25,  line  31,  leave out Clause 42.

Partial defence to murder: justifiable anger

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Where a person (“D”) kills or is party to the killing of another (“V”), D is not to

be convicted of murder if—

(a)	D’s acts or omissions in doing or being a party to the killing resulted from

D’s loss of control, and

(b)	D’s loss of control resulted from D’s anger at V, and

(c)	a person of D’s age and sex, with a normal degree of tolerance and self-

restraint and in the circumstances of D, might have reacted in the same or

in a similar way to D, and

(d)	D’s anger at V was attributable to a thing done or said (or both) by V

which—

(i)	constituted circumstances of an extremely grave character, and

(ii)	caused D to have an objectively justifiable sense of being

seriously wronged.

Notices of Amendments: 13 March 2009

344

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

(2)	In subsection (1)(c) the reference to “the circumstances of D” is a reference to all

of D’s circumstances other than those whose only relevance to D’s conduct is that

they bear on D’s general capacity for tolerance or self-restraint.

(3)	A sense of being seriously wronged by a thing done or said is not justifiable if D

incited the thing to be done or said for the purpose of providing an excuse to use

violence.

(4)	Subsection (1) does not apply if, in doing or being a party to the killing, D acted

out of a desire—

(a)	for revenge, or

(b)	to uphold D’s, or D’s family’s, honour, or

(c)	to punish V for V’s sexual infidelity

(5)	On a charge of murder, if sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue with

respect to the defence under subsection (1), the jury must assume that the defence

is satisfied unless the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that it is not.

(6)	For the purposes of subsection (5), sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue

with respect to the defence if evidence is adduced on which, in the opinion of the

trial judge, a jury, properly directed, could reasonably conclude that the defence

might apply.

(7)	A person who, but for this section, would be liable to be convicted of murder is

liable instead to be convicted of manslaughter.

(8)	The fact that one party to a killing is by virtue of this section not liable to be

convicted of murder does not affect the question of whether the killing amounted

to murder in the case of any other party to it.’.

Partial defence to murder: fear of serious violence

David Howarth

Jenny Willott

NC10

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	Where a person (“D”) kills or is party to the killing of another (“V”), D is not to

be convicted of murder if—

(a)	D’s acts or omissions in doing or being a party to the killing resulted from

D’s fear of serious violence from V against D or another identified

person, and

(b)	a person of D’s age and sex, with a normal degree of self-restraint and in

the circumstances of D, might have reacted in the same or in a similar

way to D.

(2)	In subsection (1)(b) the reference to “the circumstances of D” is a reference to all

of D’s circumstances other than those whose only relevance to D’s conduct is that

they bear on D’s general capacity for self-restraint,

(3)	D’s fear of serious violence is to be disregarded to the extent that it was caused

by a thing which D incited to be done or said for the purposes of providing an

excuse to use violence.

(4)	On a charge of murder, if sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue with

respect to the defence under subsection (1), the jury must assume that the defence

is satisfied unless the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that it is not.

(5)	For the purposes of subsection (4), sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue

with respect to the defence if evidence is adduced on which, in the opinion of the

trial judge, a jury, properly directed, could reasonably conclude that the defence

might apply.

Notices of Amendments: 13 March 2009

345

Coroners and Justice Bill, continued

(6)	Subsections (4) and (5) are not to be taken as supplanting or undermining or

otherwise affecting any defence of self-defence that might fail to be considered

in the case.

(7)	A person who, but for this section, would be liable to be convicted of murder is

liable instead to be convicted of manslaughter.

(8)	The fact that one party to a killing is by virtue of this section not liable to be

convicted of murder does not affect the question of whether the killing amounted

to murder in the case of any other party to it.’.

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Revised 16 March 2009