This book critically examines the operation of the partial defence of provocation in a range of comparative international jurisdictions. Centrally concerned with conceptual questions of gender, justice and the role of denial in the criminal justice system, Fitz-Gibbon explores the divergent approaches taken to reforming the law of provocation.

Introduction: The Partial Defence of Provocation PART I: THE PROBLEM OF PROVOCATION 1. Male Honour and the Provocation Defence 2. Jealous Men and Provocative Women 3. The Plight of the Provoked Battered Woman PART II: ADDRESSING THE PROVOCATION PROBLEM - DIVERGENT APPROACHES TO HOMICIDE LAW REFORM 4. Addressing the Provocation Problem 5. Abolishing Provocation - the Victorian Experience 6. Replacing Provocation - the English Experience 7. Restricting Provocation - the New South Wales Experience PART III: THE INTENDED AND UNINTENDED EFFECTS OF HOMICIDE LAW REFORM 8. New Laws, Same Problems - Alternative Categories to Murder 9. The Difficulty of Law Reform for Battered Women Who Kill 10. Complicating the Law of Homicide 11. Questions of Sentencing in the Provocation Debate Conclusion: The Partial Defence of Provocation and Lessons for Law Reform

Kate Fitz-Gibbon is a Lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University, Australia. Her research focuses on legal responses to lethal violence and effects of criminal law reform in Australian and international jurisdictions. She has advised government bodies on the law of homicide in several Australian jurisdictions and has published on homicide law reform in leading criminology and law journals.