PROVOCATION AS A DEFENCE TO CRIMINAL LIABILTY

ABSTRACT

Provocation is a defence in criminal law and has been recognized for its capability of reducing murder to manslaughter. On its own it is not a total defence, it does not exculpate or discharge the accused of his guilt, what it does is to mitigates the punishment, in that murder is reduced to manslaughter. This essay considers the adequacy of this defence by examining it under the Criminal code as well as penal laws of Nigeria and different centers. The general requirement is that the murder of the deceased must have been committed by the accused in response to provocation created by the deceased himself, and it must have been offered before the accused emotions had chance to cool down. The harm inflicted must also be proportional, and it must be such that a reasonable person would resort to the same action. In light of the scope of this essay, the appropriateness of this defense is entirely a psychological question. The test of provocation is insufficient. It is unreasonable to ignore the reality that different persons react to stimuli differently and the law, by its hording, expects a man dethroned in his reasoning faculty to inflict a suitably proportional injury that only a reasonable man in his senses could inflict. The aim and objective of this work is to access the meaning of the term provocation as provided for under the Criminal and Penal codes and other relevant statutes, case law and by various authors, its nature, element and the condition under which the defense can avail a person from criminal liability.