The law, which was adopted across all of the unified Germany in 1990, was based on the Nazi idea that some people are naturally feeble-minded, says Berlin criminal lawyer Dr Stefan Koenig. A murderer was defined as someone who killed 'treacherously' or 'sneakily'. The attitude of mind of the killer prevailed over the objective facts of someone having been killed. So, for instance, a man who killed his wife in a temper would usually not be seen as sneaky and might, therefore, be convicted of manslaughter. A battered wife, however, who struck her husband from behind would be more likely to be seen as sneaky.

Cannibal

Dr Koenig said: 'In the penal code concerning murder, somebody is guilty of murder but not manslaughter if he abuses the victim's defencelessness, abusing the fact that the victim is not aware of any attack.' One beneficiary of the law is the self-confessed cannibal Armin Meiwes who was originally sentenced to eight years for manslaughter - as his victim had consented and, so, the crime's perpetrator had not been sneaky. Public uproar led to a retrial and a murder conviction.

Premeditated

Research by Professor Dagmar Oberlies confirms Dr Koenig's views. She wrote in a study: 'I found that battered women were more often convicted of murder than violent men.  Women who suffered violence for many years premeditated the killing of their partner. Violent men, who did not have to fear anything, simply battered their wives until they were found dead.' Source: BBC