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Pre-Dating Vicky Pryce: The Peel Case (1922) and the Origins of the Marital Coercion Statutory Defence

Rubin, Gerry (2014) Pre-Dating Vicky Pryce: The Peel Case (1922) and the Origins of the Marital Coercion Statutory Defence. Legal Studies, 34 (4). pp. 631-659. ISSN 0261-3875. E-ISSN 1748-121X. (doi:10.1111/lest.12033) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:35478)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lest.12033

Abstract

Until 1925, there was a common law presumption that a wife committing an offence in her husband's presence did so as a result of marital coercion. However, when an upper-class wife facing prosecution with her husband for a betting fraud in 1922 successfully relied upon the defence, there was a public outcry against a doctrine that was perceived as reinforcing the ancient concept of a wife as her husband's chattel. It is argued that the abolition of the presumption, but not the doctrine itself, in the (still in force) Criminal Justice Act 1925, s 47, while reflecting changes towards a more companionate style of marriage, was primarily driven by the objectives of predominantly middle-class women's organisations. Whether the change benefited working-class wives at the time is, however, more problematic.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/lest.12033
Uncontrolled keywords: marital coercion, Criminal Justice Act 1925
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Sarah Slowe
Date Deposited: 16 Oct 2013 11:27 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 10:56 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/35478 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Rubin, Gerry.

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