Loss of control defence

{{Short description|Partial defence to the crime of murder in the jurisdiction of England and Wales}}

The loss of control defence is a partial defence to the crime of murder in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It was created by section 54 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/section/54 Section 54] The definition of "loss of control" in the Act is defined in a way that requires multiple requirements to be met, and with a number of listed exceptions that can render the defence inapplicable.

In particular, for a defendant to rely on the defence, there must either be "fear of serious violence", or the combination of "circumstances of an extremely grave character" and a "justifiable sense of being seriously wronged". Revenge for sexual infidelity is specifically ruled out as a qualifying trigger, although R v Clinton has interpreted this exception as applying only to cases where sexual infidelity is the single cause of loss of control.{{cite book | editor1=David Ormerod|editor2=David Perry|date=2023|title=Blackstone's Criminal Practice 2024| publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=34|isbn=9780198892489|at=B1.33-1.34 }}

The loss of control defence does not exonerate the person who loses control; instead it downgrades the charge for that person from murder to manslaughter, and does not change the nature of the offence for other perpetrators who may have been involved.

The partial defence of loss of control was introduced to replace the partial defence of provocation, which was abolished by the same legislation.The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/25/section/56 Section 56]{{Cite journal |last=Fitz-Gibbon |first=Kate |date=2013 |title=Replacing Provocation in England and Wales: Examining the Partial Defence of Loss of Control |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00623.x |journal=Journal of Law and Society |language=en |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=280–305 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00623.x|url-access=subscription }}