ABSTRACT
In recent years, expert medical evidence has been utilised in order to present defences to murder, particularly the defence of provocation, for women who have killed violent partners. Whilst the use of such evidence is interesting in individual cases, what is at question is whether reliance on expert testimony will be constructive in the long term as a means of explaining the experiences and reactions of women subjected to systematic domestic violence. To resolve this issue, the role of expert medical evidence in the key cases in this field will be assessed to reveal the impact of such evidence on our understanding of battered women, and to discover why it is that expert evidence, as opposed to other forms of testimony, has been adopted by the legal profession in dealing with cases of this kind. Lastly, an alternative form of evidence for the defence, obviating the possible drawbacks of medical evidence, will be considered as a means of presenting to the courts the realities of battered women’s choices and actions.
