Pistorius faces sentencing over girlfriend's death

Legal Repercussions

The decision by 66-year-old Masipa, only the second black woman to rise to South Africa's bench, to absolve Pistorius of murder drew criticism from many legal experts and the public in a country infamous for violence, particularly against women.

The professional criticism centred on the legal notion of intent via 'dolus eventualis', whereby a person is held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions. Laymen have pondered the practical consequences of the ruling, in particular what it meant for the legal principal of self-defence.

Pistorius said the shooting in his upmarket Pretoria home was a tragic mistake, but at the trial prosecutors presented a written firearms licence test in which he acknowledged that using lethal force against an intruder was only allowed if there was a direct threat to a person's life.

With this in mind, as well as the questions over Masipa's ruling on intent, the state could yet decide to appeal the culpable verdict in pursuit of a murder conviction.

"We have many judgements which essentially say: 'If you point a firearm at someone and shoot, then you intend to kill them'," said Steve Tucson, a law professor at Johannesburg's Wit waters rand University.

Under South African law, an appeal cannot be launched until sentencing has been concluded.