Sentencing Domestic Homicide Upon Provocation: Still `Getting Away with Murder

Sentencing practices in cases of domestic homicide have been the object of critical scrutiny on previous occasions across a number of jurisdictions. It has been suggested by some that these practices reveal judges to be taking a more lenient approach to women who kill their violent male partners than to men who kill allegedly unfaithful female partners. This note evaluates claims of gender bias in sentencing practices in UK cases of domestic homicide following the Court of Appeal sentencing decision in R. v. Suratan, R. v.Humes and R.v. Wilkinson (Attorney General's Reference No.74, No. 95 and No. 118 of 2002) 2002]E.W.C.A. 2982 concerning three men who killed their female partners. It will argue that in the wake of this decision current proposals to review both the substantive law of provocation and sentencing practices are to be welcomed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.