A Review of the Factors Determining Discretionary Relief from Forfeiture under the Forfeiture Act 1982

This article considers the case law which has flowed from the enactment of the Forfeiture Act 1982. In the event of unlawful killing as between joint tenant co-co-owners of land, the common law dictates that in such instance, the joint tenancy is severed, so as to prevent the unlawful killer inheriting the land exclusively and thus profiting from his/her crime. The are obviously a vast array of types of unlawful killing from outright murder to manslaughter to assisted suicide - a range of levels of moral culpability. The Forfeiture Act 1982 allows a court to give relief against the potential harshness of the forfeiture rule. The court has a discretion here, however, the Act gives no guidance on how that discretion is to be exercised. This paper reviews the case law which has arisen post the enactment of the 1982 Act and tries to formulate some guidelines on how the courts have come to exercise their discretion here.