Appeal case boost for battered woman syndrome defence

For many Kenyans, the case of Ruth Kamande has been a sensation. The young woman was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of her boyfriend whom she stabbed repeatedly during an argument. After a failed challenge at the court of appeal, Kamande asked that she should be allowed to approach the Supreme Court for a further appeal. Her lawyers argued that they wanted to raise a crucial issue with the Supreme Court, namely the status of a battered woman syndrome defence in Kenya. The appeal court agreed to let the second appeal go forward, saying that issues surrounding the BWS were ‘raw’ in Kenya, without many decisions to give guidance. As Carmel Rickard explains in her A Matter of Justice column on the Legalbrief site, the judges of Kenya’s highest court have now given their decision on this appeal. And while she wasn’t ultimately successful in her own case, Kamande’s challenge has led to a decision that gives some guidance about such a defence in the future. It will also raise public awareness about the possibility of doing so, in a country where it a BWS defence is still a novel approach.