From The Defense Of Domestic Violence To The Defense Of Battered Woman Syndrome

It’s common to find the case of a battered woman who killed her husband nationwide, but the findings from each case are totally different, which cause the embarrassment of “sentencing differences”. With the spread of many cases which have significant influences nationwide in recent years, the standard of sentencing is turning to be lighter generally. At the same time, it’s just the seriousness and universality of the problem that promote the progress of legislation. In the first Criminal Justice Guidance against domestic violence which was enacted in Mar.2nd,2015, the Article 19 and the Article 20 have given guidance to sentencing. It was intended to give appropriate protection to the woman who killed her husband because of the long-term domestic violence, as a matter of fact it violated the rule of crime characteristic, that make it inapplicable. On the basis of such cases summarized in the above, together with the theory of battered woman syndrome and the cases from other countries, the author proposed that it’s necessary to introduce the theory of battered woman syndrome into our criminal procedure as a kind of an independent defense cause.Whereas, our criminal law stipulates the components to constitute self-defense and the symptoms required by psychiatric illness.Battered woman syndrome can not be produced as a justifiable defense. Also, it can not simply be classified into psychiatric illness, thus bear no responsibility or limited responsibility. Therefore,the author proposed that guiding cases should be given national wide first to set up a unified standard of conviction and sentence, which can lay down base for further legislation. Secondly, the Justice Guidance should be revised. Battered woman syndrome theory should be stipulated by relevant interpretation as a independent causeof defense. Finally, these doctrines should have retroactive effect. All the sentences shall be reexamined equally as of they meet the same standard.