ORAL — C R I M I N A L L A W

—> Give an outline of the case with details about the crime, the trial, the outcome and if
necessary the appeal. The class will be asked if they agree to the decisions of the judges.

Regina v Kiranjit Ahluwalia

This is the story of a woman who left her country India, her family, her friends, her
landmarks to marry an Indian living in London. After suffering years of abuse, Kiranjit Ahluwalia
killed her violent husband - and ended up in jail. When she was finally freed on appeal, her case
changed the face of British justice.

The descent into hell then begins for her when she discovers that her husband is not only
alcoholic but also violent towards her. 10 years of marriage. 10 years of ordeal. Until the day
when, pushed to the end, she will commit the unthinkable ... She burns her husband. She threw
petrol over him while he was in his bedroom and set it alight. Her husband died six days later from
his injuries. Ahluwalia pleaded manslaughter on grounds that she did not intend to kill him, only to
inflict pain. She also pleaded the defence of provocation on grounds of her treatment during the
marriage. Ahluwalia was convicted of murder in 1989 and appealed the decision. Accused of first
degree murder, she is sentenced to life imprisonment despite her apparent trauma.

The trial

At the trial, the prosecution argued that although on the night of the event she had been
threatened with a hot poker, the fact that she waited until her husband had gone to sleep was
evidence that she had time to "cool off" and weigh to a nicety her actions. In addition the
prosecution claimed her prior knowledge to mix caustic soda with petrol to create napalm was not
common knowledge and was proof that she had planned her husband's murder. Her counsel did
not make any claims about the violence she later claimed she had endured, while the prosecution
suggested that Kiranjit was motivated by jealousy due to her husband's repeated affairs. She was
found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Issue
(1) Is the definition of provocation in R v Duffy [1949] 1 All ER 932 as “sudden and temporary loss
of control”, which presumes that the harmful act follows straight after the provocation, still
good law?

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(2) Is the defence of diminished responsibility which was not considered at trial available on
appeal?

Appeal and release

Her case eventually came to the attention of the Southall Black Sisters who pressed for a
mistrial. Kiranjit's conviction was overturned on appeal in 1992 on grounds of insufficient counsel
—Kiranjit had not been aware that she could plead guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of
diminished responsibility. In addition, it was brought to light that she was suffering from severe
depression when she lashed back at her husband, which her new counsel argued had altered her
decision-making abilities at the time. After the mistrial was declared, the Crown Prosecution
Service did not attempt another prosecution.

Kiranjit Ahluwalia was charged with murder and imprisoned for life. In jail, she received the
support of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS), an NGO helping black (Asian and African-
Caribbean) and minority ethnic women. Thanks to their landmark campaign, a retrial was ordered.
The defence put forward the concept of « diminished responsibility » based on her long standing
depression due to the abuse, and suggested a new interpretation of the concept of
« provocation »: for battered women subjected to years of cumulative provocation, the time-lapse
between an act of provocation and the fatal act can be seen as a « boiling-over » period rather
than a « cooling-off » period.

Indeed, in Jacqueline Sauvage’s case, the gap of few hours has been misinterpreted as a cooling-
off period, and premeditation was even suggested (before being ruled out). Jacqueline Sauvage
had also waited few hours before shooting her husband, in reaction to a severe beating he had
inflicted upon her. Her lawyers’ plea for self-defence was rejected.

In 1992, the murder charge against Kiranjit Ahluwalia was reduced to manslaughter. She was
eventually convicted to 3 years and 4 months imprisonment, exactly the time she had already
served. Contrary to Jacqueline Sauvage, Kiranjit Ahluwalia walked free out of her second
trial. The campaign has helped mobilize public opinion and communities on the topic of domestic
violence, and improve the law in the United Kingdom.

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Film based on her story

A film based on her story is released in great Britain.

At first glance, Kiranjit Ahluwalia seems an unlikely subject for a film. She lives in a three-bedroom
house in Slough, has brought up two sons - both at university - and works the nightshift at her
local Royal Mail sorting office. So far, so average.

But Ahluwalia has led an extraordinary life, which has inspired the British film, Provoked: A True
Story. The film traces her journey - from a victim of domestic violence to convicted murderer, to
the woman who changed public opinion towards battered women who kill their abusers. Her case
also helped change the law.

Anyway, we also have the film of JACQUELINE SAUVAGE: IT WAS HIM OR HIM, recently released
in November 2018 with Muriel Robin who plays the role of Jacqueline Sauvage

Jacqueline Sauvage is a mother, victim of domestic violence, who slaughters her husband after a
violent dispute in 2012. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, a movement is born to defend the idea
that it was self-defense. After a long mobilization and media coverage, the President of the
Republic François Hollande grants him the presidential pardon in January 2016.

Conclusion & opinion

To conclude more than the story of a woman, it is the story of a struggle for justice more
just and more attentive to the facts that are submitted to it. Can self-defense be invoked and
pleaded by a beaten and abused woman even though the man was not abusing his girlfriend at
the time of the facts? Thus the word "provocation" (provoked) has since been associated with this
affair and thus with abused women.

The fight of this woman has also changed the English legislation on the case of battered
women both victims and guilty.

Leur demander leur avis sur le sujet : pensez vous que la décision des juges est correcte ? Cette
femme à tout de même tué une personne ? Que pensez vous de cette affaire ?

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