1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457531503321

Autore

Spain Eimear <1981->

Titolo

The role of emotions in criminal law defences : duress, necessity and lesser evils / / Eimear Spain [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2011

ISBN

1-139-17980-2

1-107-22787-9

1-283-38405-1

1-139-18955-7

9786613384058

1-139-18825-9

1-139-19085-7

1-139-18363-X

1-139-18595-0

1-139-03062-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvii, 306 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

345/.05044

Soggetti

Duress (Law)

Necessity (Law)

Defense (Criminal procedure)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Thematic overview -- The role of emotions in legal theory -- Coping with uncertainty -- Elements of the defences -- Threats and the taking of life -- A reappraisal.

Sommario/riassunto

The law has struggled for many years with the problem of how to accommodate those who commit crimes due to threats or circumstances. The modern ambivalence surrounding the defences of duress and necessity has its origins in the legal past. To date the defences of duress and necessity have been couched in terms such as compulsion, involuntariness and human frailty, resulting in the true nature of the defences being hidden. Psychologists and legal theorists have begun to re-examine the role of emotions in human action,



including their effect upon behaviour and choice. In light of recent breakthroughs, Eimear Spain considers how the emotions experienced by those who act due to threats, both human and natural in origin, should affect the attribution of criminal responsibility and punishment. The understanding of emotions extrapolated in this book points towards a new rationale for the existing defences of duress and necessity.