Criminal Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Criminal Law - Assignment Example The criminal liability of Claire in the present case is getting involved in the murder of her husband. The criminal law always protects the interests of the persons who are forced to commit violence. This holds good especially in those cases where self-protection takes the priority. In several occasions, the people may undergo mental tension for long term affecting their regular mental state and in the events of unforeseen nature, they will be compelled to take some action immediately. In these cases, diminished responsibility may be applied while deciding the nature of the punishment. Claire is involved in killing her husband, but her mental state which was disturbed due to the unacceptable behavior of her husband and the thinking of protecting the genuine interests of her daughter led to this incident. Hence, she should be protected under criminal law and she was forced to indulge in this act only due to the circumstances happened during this period. The possible defense for Claire is discussed as follows: 1. Claire has not initiated any violent action from her end, rather she was patient for last 15 years with the unacceptable attitude of her husband. She knew that her husband was not in the process of transformation and hence she was very much convinced about his violent behavior. She was forced to protect herself and children and hence her mental balance was severely affected leading to the murder of her husband. Tony would have been punished for his forceful attempt for forcing his daughter to have sex with him if he had been alive by the court of law. ... Claire has not initiated any violent action from her end, rather she was patient for last 15 years with the unacceptable attitude of her husband. She knew that her husband was not in the process of transformation and hence she was very much convinced about his violent behavior. She was forced to protect herself and children and hence her mental balance was severely affected leading to the murder of her husband. Tony would have been punished for his forceful attempt for forcing his daughter to have sex with him if he had been alive by the court of law as in the case of Regina Respondent v R. Appellant4, 5. In this case, the husband was punished for attempting rape on his wife against her will and who has applied for divorce. According Section 1(1) of Sexual Offences Amendment Act (1976), any person who is indulged in attempting rape or any other sexual violence would be punished under court of law (S. v. H.M. Advocate6; Advocate, H.M. v. Duffy7; Reg. v. Casewell8). In the present case study, the attempt was made by Tony to rape his daughter which is unacceptable. There was no chance for her to stop him from that attempt and hence she decided to stop him and in that process, she committed a murder. The punishment of persons indulged in forceful sexual intercourse was also justified in cases such as Reg. v. Jackson9; Reg. v. J. (Rape : Marital exemption)10; Reg. v. Sharples11; Reg. v. Roberts12. This case is similar to that of R v Rose13 where a son has murdered his father to protect his mother from the serious assault. Moreover, the diminished responsibility and provision of partial or complete defence in cases of gross provocation and fear of serious violence was well documented in final recommendations of English Law