Non-Fatal Strangulation: An Analysis of the Implications of a New Offence

41 Pages Posted: 16 May 2017

See all articles by Fenyi Manning

Fenyi Manning

Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty of Law, Student/Alumni

Date Written: May 16, 2017

Abstract

In March 2016 the Law Commission (the Commission) released its report Strangulation: The Case for a New Offence. It made several recommendations including that a specific offence of non-fatal strangulation should be enacted. This paper discusses how well the recommendations will work in practice. This paper argues that, although the Commission’s recommendations will go a long way towards meeting its three main objectives – raising awareness of the dangerousness of strangulation, addressing the current lack of accountability of perpetrators of strangulation and keeping the victims of strangulation safe – there are important considerations yet to be addressed. They include issues relating to: charging inconsistency where there is choice to be made between pursuing a specific strangulation charge or a current generic offence charge; noting family violence on offenders' records where strangulation is involved in a family violence context but the offender is charged with a generic offence instead of the strangulation offence; the weight of strangulation as an aggravating factor to be considered in sentencing; and, the extent of operational changes. The paper concludes that a non-fatal strangulation offence should be implemented, but that important related issues must be addressed if the reform objectives are to be met.

Keywords: Strangulation, non-fatal strangulation, family violence, intimate partner violence

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K14.

Suggested Citation

Manning, Fenyi, Non-Fatal Strangulation: An Analysis of the Implications of a New Offence (May 16, 2017). Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper, Student/Alumni Paper No. 2/2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2968710

Fenyi Manning (Contact Author)

Victoria University of Wellington, Faculty of Law, Student/Alumni ( email )

PO Box 600
Wellington, Victoria 6140
New Zealand

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