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Entries Tagged as 'Defences'

In Defence of the Partial Defence of Provocation

July 23rd, 2009 16 Comments

The case we have all watched in horror playing out in the news is over. Clayton Weatherston has been found guilty of murdering Sophie Elliot and his attempt at the partial defence of provocation was rightly shown the contempt it deserved by the court. At MandM we maintained our standard policy of refusing to comment […]

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Fisking Ian Hassall: The Arbitrary Ethical Reasoning on the Smacking Referendum

July 10th, 2009 41 Comments

Recently Dr Ian Hassall gave a presentation, on the upcoming referendum on section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961, entitled: How did we come to have a law that supported hitting children? This presentation defends the thesis that mild physical punishment (smacking) is wrong and should remain illegal in New Zealand. In this post I […]

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No Defences Permitted for the Accused

June 19th, 2009 36 Comments

In, The referendum campaign is underway, No Right Turn’s Idiot/Savant gives an excellent example of an argument we see coming up a lot in the debate around the upcoming referendum on smacking. In addition to trotting out the standard ad hominem, that everyone who supports the reinstatement of the old section 59 of the Crimes […]

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