Criminal Responsibility and Partial Excuses

Publsihed in 1998, this book examines the relationship between responsibility and criminal liability through an analysis of provocation and related criminal defences. It begins by identifying fundamental questions about the role of justifications and excuses in the criminal law as they emerge from the discussion of philosophical theories of responsibility. Following an outline of the distinction between murder and manslaughter and its history, the basic doctrinal issues relating to the nature and rationale of provocation and other partial defences are then identified and discussed in depth, together with the circumstances under which these defences can be raised.

Although the analysis focuses, for the most part, on English law, the references to other legal systems which are included in the work add an important comparative perspective to the discussion of the issues. The book should be of special interest to criminal lawyers, legal theorists and students interested in comparative criminal law and jurisprudence.