Murder law rethink unveiled

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The government has set out proposals to reform murder laws to include greater leniency for victims of domestic abuse who go on to murder their partner or spouse.

Ministers on Tuesday outlined proposed amendments to the law on provocation in domestic murder cases in the first review of the law on murder since capital punishment was abolished in 1969.

At present, the law allows men who kill their wife or partner in a fit of jealousy to plead provocation but the same does not apply to women who murder an abuser.

But under the new plans, a defendant can be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder if they can prove they were motivated by "words and conduct" which left them "seriously wronged".

There will also be a new partial defence of "fear of serious violence".

Justice minister Maria Eagle said: "If you look at recent cases, it seems clear that judges and juries have been trying to stretch the current law.

"With these changes, the law will be clearer."

The proposals for a "slow burn" defence, where a killer takes a life after being subjected to delayed or gradual pressure, would still have a high threshold, she pledged.

"This is a substantial change. But we would not want to introduce anything that would allow cold, calculating killers to get away with it," she said.

Attorney general Baroness Scotland said the "proposed thorough overhaul" would bring murder laws "right up to date".

Solicitor general Vera Baird QC added: "Exceptionally, someone who loses control and kills from a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged by the victim's conduct will... have a partial defence.

"However, unlike the current defence of provocation, this can't be used when ordinary domestic conflicts cause friction and emphatically will not be available as a reaction to sexual infidelity.

"The days of sexual jealousy as a defence are over."

The proposals follow a report published two years ago by the Law Commission that suggested provocation should be able to be cited by victims of domestic violence who commit murder in fear of further serious assaults, resulting in the individual being able to get off with the lesser charge of manslaughter.

According to the Commission, British courts should adopt first- and second-degree murder charges, similar to the system used in the US.

First-degree murder relates to cases where the offender has the intention to kill, while murder in the second degree describes a scenario whereby the offender has the intention to cause serious harm but not murder.

Labour deputy leader and minister for women Harriet Harman said: "For centuries the law has allowed men to escape a murder charge in domestic homicide cases by blaming the victim.

"Ending the provocation defence in cases of 'infidelity' is an important law change and will end the culture of excuses.

"There is no excuse for domestic violence, let alone taking a life. Whatever happens in a relationship does not justify resorting to violence. So men who kill their wife will have to face a murder charge and will no longer be able to claim 'its her fault, she provoked me'.

"Changing the law will end the injustice of women being killed by their husband and then being blamed. It will end the injustice of the perpetrators making excuses saying it's not my fault - it's hers."

Earlier, she told GMTV that there were "very, very few" cases when women killed their husbands after years of domestic abuse.

"In the few cases every year when a wife kills her husband because she's in fear of him after years of violence against her, she'll be able to have a partial defence, and say she killed him out of fear," she said.