ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the reforms to provocation and diminished responsibility in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in the light of the history and development of these defences in the two jurisdictions of Ireland, that is to say, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. First of all, there is the need to view the partial defences as a coherent system and not in isolation from each other. With this in mind, we can now look at the way in which the relevant defences have developed in the two jurisdictions, beginning with the Republic of Ireland and then going on to Northern Ireland. In particular, it has been argued that it fails to set any minimum standard of self-control, and that it allows a defence to those whose loss of self-control is triggered by 'morally repugnant beliefs and values'.
