PHL 612 Lecture 12: PHL 612 - Week 12
Document Summary
Case of lavallee, claims of self-defence charged with killing her abuser. How criminal law treats manslaughter and how it treats self defence. Crucial concepts in criminal law: actus reus and mens rea. The criminal code includes what can be characterized as incomplete offences , such as. Criminal law focuses on cognitive capacities for attribution of liability. Subjective principle: defendant"s own intentions, capacities and beliefs. Objective principle beliefs, capacities and intentions of a reasonable person. Reasonable to believe she would use self-defence. Topic 2: defenses, excuses and justifications case involving a claim of self-defence by a woman diagnosed to be suffering from battered woman syndrome, provided an articulation of the distinction between justification and excuse in the following terms: A defense of justification is the product of society"s determination that the actual existence of certain circumstances will operate to make proper and legal what would otherwise be criminal conduct.