Citation

Brookbanks W. Crim. Law J. 2017; 41(2): 104-118.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Law Book Company)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

This review provides an analysis of a range of substantive, evidentiary and sentencing developments in New Zealand criminal law. Included in this review is discussion of planned reforms in the area of homicide prosecutions, which provide a valuable rationalisation of current laws governing intimate partners who kill their abusers; and case law developments surrounding "wilful blindness" - apposite to assessing mens rea in serious drugs offending. The principle of concurrence (suggesting a re-evaluation of the principle established in Thabo Meli v The Queen), as well as recent case law examining complicity and the status of the withdrawal defence, are also considered. The review analyses recent cases that have impacted on attempts theory and on the defence of compulsion, with particular reference in the latter to whether normative involuntariness should be recognised as a principle of fundamental justice. The review concludes with a review of the 2016 appellate decision of R v Harrison; R v Turner, which focused on the meaning of "manifestly unjust" in the context of New Zealand's controversial "three strikes" sentencing regime.

Language: en