Dr Felicity Gerry KC cited in the Law Commission Consultation Paper

on Homicide in relation to autism and allegations of “joint enterprise".

The Law Commission has published a consultation paper on homicide offences. Whilst the paper does not make provisional proposals to reform the law of complicity (sometimes called “joint enterprise liability”), it is envisaged that the proposed changes to the structure of homicide offences would, in some homicide cases, facilitate a more accurate differentiation between the culpability of a principal offender (who committed the fatal act) and an accessory (who assisted or encouraged the principal offender), resulting in more proportionate sentences.

Felicity’s work with Professors Clare Allely and Andrew Rowland on autism and “joint enterprise” is cited on page 180 when the Law Commission acknowledges the following:

“Some evidence suggests that people with ASD (often not diagnosed or misdiagnosed) are at risk of being convicted under the law of complicity (and some have been convicted) even though they are often prone to be misunderstood or not able to assess the future conduct of another person due to their communication difficulties”

You can read the Libertas Chambers article cited by the Law Commission here  and watch the related webinar here.

There is an online response form for the Law Commission consultation and responses are due 30 September 2026 – see here.