ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the implications of the demise of partial defences in New Zealand for the development of a coherent system for assessing criminal culpability in homicide cases. It focuses on the Commission's recommendations concerning the risk of unduly harsh sentences under Sentencing Act 2002 with the repeal of provocation. The chapter describes the scheme of the 'three strikes' law before commenting on its likely consequences, in particular its impact on offenders convicted of murder and manslaughter. In reflecting on the impacts of sentencing for murder in a post-provocation environment, it seems appropriate to consider the various types of pathological mental states that might be implicated in an invincible loss of self-control and, having a bearing on provocation in mitigation of penalty. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the likely impact of the new sentencing measures, in particular the three strikes law, on those defendants who might previously have benefited from the partial defence of provocation.
