Homicide law proposals published

An overhaul of existing homicide laws said the current defence of provocation should be replaced, with the new "words and conduct" defence only being available in exceptional cases.

If a jury accepts a partial defence in a murder trial the defendant can be convicted of manslaughter instead, and receive a much lower sentence.

The proposals - which have already taken more than four years to draw up - will also create a new partial defence of "fear of serious violence".

It would mean, for example, that men and women facing domestic violence could argue they were forced to kill their tormentor.

However, the Ministry of Justice said the law would be changed to make it clear that someone who discovers their partner is having an affair would not be entitled to argue they had been "seriously wronged".

Men and women who suffered a "slow burn" of domestic violence over a period of time could also use one of the partial defences under the proposals, over-turning current law which requires them to have acted on the spur of the moment.

Current laws have made it too easy for men to kill their wives and claim they were provoked by the victim's infidelity, but at the same time restricted the use of partial defences by women with abusive partners, government documents said.

Justice minister Maria Eagle said: "If you look at recent cases, it seems clear that judges and juries have been trying to stretch the current law. With these changes, the law will be clearer."

Ministers have decided not to take forward proposals for a US-style scale of first and second degree murder, which was proposed by the law reform advisers the Law Commission in 2006.