• Require that the defence of property through violence be “reasonable”, but not also “necessary” and “proportionate”.
  • Require that the defence of property be dependant on defence of the person or Aboriginal lands, such that the use of deadly force could only be justified in such circumstances.
  • Engage in an equality-based analysis of the defence of provocation that examines the broader implications of the defence beyond the results in reported cases.
  • Abolish provocation at the same time that the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for murder is abolished.
  • Remove “victim provocation” as a factor in mitigation of sentence.
  • Delete the phrase "in the heat of passion" and substitute language that identifies a temporal link between the alleged provocation and the accused’s response.
  • Replace the phrase “wrongful act or insult” with “unlawful act”, employing an equality-based understanding of insults that encompasses the implicit threat posed by racist insults and other taunting.
  • Retain the "ordinary person" test for provocation.
  • Retain the “suddenness” requirement for the accused’s reaction to the alleged provocation.
  • Do not create a formal bar on the provocation defence for "spouses", but enact one instead for male violence against women and children and for killings inspired by alleged gay advances or “homosexual panic”.
  • Qualify the ordinary person test such that the person is one who adheres to Charter, specifically equality values.


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