FACT SHEET

SELF-DEFENCE REVIEW
TERMS OF REFERENCE

In recent years, there have been developments in our understanding of the law of self-defence as it relates to battered women who have been involved in abusive relationships. There are concerns that women convicted of homicide in these circumstances may not have received the benefit of the defence of self-defence when it may have been available to them.

We also now have an increased understanding of abusive relationships and their impact on those who have been battered, and how this might support the use of the defence. Questions have also been raised about the circumstances under which these types of offences occurred and about whether our criminal law, sentencing processes and sentencing tools are adequate to deal with these circumstances.

Accordingly, the Honourable Judge Lynn Ratushny, a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice (Provincial Division) was appointed:

· to review the cases of women under sentence in federal and provincial institutions who apply for a remedy and who are serving a sentence for homicide in circumstances in which the killing allegedly took place to prevent the deceased from inflicting serious bodily harm or death;

· to make recommendations in appropriate cases to the Government of Canada for individual women whose circumstances merit consideration for the granting of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy;

· to clarify the availability and the scope of the defences available to women accused of homicide in the circumstances set out above; and

· to make recommendations as considered appropriate with respect to possible law reform initiatives stemming from the Review.