Pragmatism Preserved? The Challenges of Accommodating Mercy Killers in the Reformed Diminished Responsibility Plea

Gibson, MJR ORCID: 0000-0003-4008-132X (2017) Pragmatism Preserved? The Challenges of Accommodating Mercy Killers in the Reformed Diminished Responsibility Plea. Journal of Criminal Law, 81 (3). pp. 177-200.

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Abstract

This article examines the operation of the reformed English diminished responsibility plea in mercy killer cases. In particular, it makes three claims. First, it predicts that—like its predecessor—the revised doctrine will be stretched, where necessary, to accommodate these offenders. This is because (i) normative arguments remain for convicting them of manslaughter instead of murder and (ii) other partial defence routes will usually be unavailable. Secondly, it contends that such pragmatism will now be facilitated by a disconnect between (i) the defence’s post-reform narrowing and (ii) its ongoing interpretive flexibility. Thirdly, given that disconnect, it suggests that this pragmatism will be problematic. Notably, it will (i) compromise the plea’s newfound coherence and (ii) exacerbate unfair labelling of mercy killers. Ultimately, and more broadly, these difficulties reinforce recent calls for further homicide law reform.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Homicide, Murder, Voluntary manslaughter, Partial defences, Diminished responsibility, Mercy killers, Law reform, Homicide Act 1957, Coroners and Justice Act 2009
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	02 Mar 2017 14:06
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 07:14
DOI:	10.1177/0022018317702801
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3006159