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The Implementation of Feminist Law Reforms: The Case of Post-provocation Sentencing

Hunter, Rosemary, Tyson, Danielle (2017) The Implementation of Feminist Law Reforms: The Case of Post-provocation Sentencing. Social & Legal Studies, 26 (2). pp. 129-165. ISSN 0964-6639. E-ISSN 1461-7390. (doi:10.1177/0964663916666628) (KAR id:71538)

Abstract

In 2005, the Australian State of Victoria abolished the controversial partial defence of provocation. Part of the impetus for the reforms was to challenge provocation’s victim-blaming narratives and the defence’s tendency to excuse men’s violence against intimate partners. However, concerns were also expressed that these narratives and excuses would simply reappear at the sentencing stage when men who had killed intimate partners were convicted of murder or manslaughter. This article analyses post-provocation sentencing judgments, reviewing cases over the 10-year period since the reforms in order to determine whether these concerns have been borne out. The analysis suggests that at the level of sentencing outcomes they have not been borne out, although at the level of discourse the picture is more mixed. While sentencing narratives continue to reproduce the language of provocation, at the same time, post-provocation sentencing appears to provide opportunities for feminist judging – picking up on the spirit of the reforms – which have been taken up by some judges more than others.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/0964663916666628
Uncontrolled keywords: Feminist law reform, judicial attitudes, manslaughter, murder, partial defence of provocation, sentencing
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Sian Robertson
Date Deposited: 07 Jan 2019 10:58 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 16:55 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/71538 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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