The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the practical limits and scope of the substantive
concept and principles of justice in response to a growing philosophical scepticism about
the relevance and substance of the virtue of justice in the modern world. This critical
reflection on justice is set in an actual context of considerable controversy surrounding
the commitment to justice and compelling claims about the failure of the ???justice system???
to fulfil those commitments. This context encompasses debates and decisions about
justice for battered women defendants.
The first part of the thesis develops an extended empirical case study of the New Zealand
???justice system??? centred on the 1994 trial of Gay Oakes who killed her abusive husband
and was convicted of his murder. Using this legal case as a critical point of departure for
reflection on New Zealand???s commitment to justice for battered women defendants and
for women victims of domestic violence more broadly, the case study includes a detailed
overview of the legal, political and cultural aspects of New Zealand???s changing
commitment to justice for battered women, concentrating on the twenty-year period
between 1987 and 2007. The study overall reveals the complexity of the justice challenge
in this context and raises serious concerns about the ongoing failure to meet the demands
of justice in spite of significant progress made.
The second part of the thesis engages in analytical reflection on the key principles of
justice conceptualised in western political philosophy and underpinning the
institutionalised commitment to justice in New Zealand. Divided into three distinct
principles of justice ??? the principle of equal treatment or formal justice, the principle of
equal consent, and the principle of just deserts ??? the analysis in this part of the thesis
endeavours to translate each principle of justice defined in abstraction, based on
hypothetical and universal dilemmas, to apply in specific contexts of judging what justice
demands for battered women defendants. Although serious complexities of ???translation???
arise in each case, the analysis points to the conclusion that the sceptics are wrong to doubt the substance and relevance of justice, and that justice remains an important legal,
political and moral virtue capable of guiding judgments in complex contexts.

Susan Glaspell's Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers : Woman Abuse in a Literary and Legal Context

Justice in context: judging battered women defendants: a New Zealand case study

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It has been asserted (e.g., Gillespie, 1989) that the self-defense defense, with its objectivereasonable man standard, is unfairly biased against certain female defendants who kill a male and plead not guilty by reason of self-defense (NGRSD), and that jurors, who represent “community sentiment,” share that bias. Using three cases where a woman kills and pleads self-defense (a battered woman case, aGoetz-like subway case, and an alleged rape case), whereseriousness of the harm, equal or unequal force, retreat/escape possibility, imminence, and thepresence and type of expert testimony were varied, 269 mock jurors (students and adults) rendered verdicts and ratings. Broad but variable support for the NGRSD was found (e.g., 63%, 27%, and 23% NGRSD verdicts in the battered woman, subway, and rape cases, respectively), along with evidence that subjects use a wider context and, at times, a subjective perspective to decide culpability. Implications for a self-defense defense are suggested.

Susan Glaspell's Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers : Woman Abuse in a Literary and Legal Context

Citations

Justice in context: judging battered women defendants: a New Zealand case study

References

The self-defense defense and community sentiment.

Justice in context: judging battered women defendants: a New Zealand case study

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