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Australia provocationjury directions

Johnson v The Queen

Johnson v The Queen (1976) 136 CLR 619; [1976] HCA 44
JurisdictionAustralia
CourtHigh Court of Australia
Year1976
StatusBinding authority

Key Principle

Where there is material on the evidence on which a jury acting reasonably could find that the accused killed under provocation, the trial judge is bound to leave provocation to the jury even if the defence does not rely on it (the Crown bearing the onus of negativing it); and the proportion between the provocation and the retaliatory act is a matter for the jury rather than a fixed rule of law.

Area of Law

General

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