R139 Understanding family violence: Reforming the criminal law relating to homicide

• General information
• Letter to the Minister
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Summary
  • Introduction
  • A better understanding of family violence
  • A change to the law of self-defence
  • Greater recognition of reduced culpability
  • No partial defence to murder
  • Changes to sentencing for homicide
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 1 - Scope, context and approach
  • Introduction
  • Context of this review
  • Scope of this project
  • Our approach
• Chapter 2 - Understanding family violence
  • Introduction
  • The different forms of family violence
  • Evolving understanding of intimate partner violence
  • Contemporary understanding of family violence
  • Improving understanding of family violence
• Chapter 3 - The legal context
  • Introduction
  • Homicide law
  • Summary of our case review
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 4 - The law reform context
  • Introduction
  • Previous New Zealand Law Commission Reports
  • Reform in other jurisdictions
• Chapter 5 - Self-defence in New Zealand
  • Introduction
  • The theory of self-defence
  • History of self-defence in New Zealand
  • Operation of self-defence in New Zealand
• Chapter 6 - Self-defence and family violence - is there a problem?
  • Introduction
  • The role of gender in the development of self-defence
  • Persisting misconceptions
  • Imminence of the threat and lack of alternatives
  • Proportionality
  • Self-defence in other jurisdictions
  • The role of battered woman syndrome evidence
  • Submitters’ views on whether there is a problem
  • The Commission’s view
• Chapter 7 - Proposals to reform self-defence
  • Introduction
  • Proposals for substantive reform
  • Proposals for procedural reform
  • Other procedural matters
• Chapter 8 - The conceptual framework for reduced culpability
  • Introduction
  • Setting the scene: Two illustrative cases
  • Options for recognising reduced culpability
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 9 - Observations from the cases
  • Introduction
  • Conviction outcomes
  • Sentencing outcomes
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 10 - Is a partial defence justified?
  • Introduction
  • overview of the submissions
  • Arguments for a partial defence
  • Arguments against a partial defence
  • What would a partial defence look like?
  • A specific homicide offence
  • Conclusions and recommendation
• Chapter 11 - Sentencing for homicide
  • Introduction
  • The approach of the Sentencing Act 2002
  • Overview of the submissions
  • The purposes of sentencing
  • Mitigating factors under the Sentencing Act
  • Specific issues in sentencing for murder
  • Sentencing for manslaughter
  • The three strikes provisions
• Appendix A - Terms of reference
• Appendix B - List of submitters on the Issues Paper
• Appendix C - Recommendations
• Appendix D - Glossary of terms