Duress Per Minas as a Defence to Crime: II

Abstract

I am honoured to be invited to reply to Lord Kilbrandon’s paper on duress. The paper contains proposals of the highest interest for reform of the law. It is particularly interesting to hear these proposals from a noble and learned judge who has himself played an important part in the legal debate of the law of England on this topic. The present condition of that law, as he ably illustrates, is a very difficult one to justify. As Lord Kilbrandon modestly refuses to dwell on the judgements in which he took part, and as he assumed perhaps a greater familiarity with the cases in question than can be expected of the philosophers among his audience, I would like to spend some time on the present state of the law before considering the pros and cons of each of the proposals for reform.