Effect of marital relationship In the Iraqi Penal Code

Abstract

Marital relation has a great effect on man’s life in general, because it is the legal frame for establishing a rightful legal family, This relation  also has its great effect and importance in laws in general and the Criminal Law in particular (substantive and procedural). As for the scope  of the sustentative rules (under study); it deals with the rules which organize incrimination and penalty in which  the state organizes the right of penalty and put forth the boundaries between what is prohibited and what is permissible and codify the appropriate penalty  specified by the law in case of breach.

The study we examines, in two sections, with the effect of the marital relation from the substantive perspective of The Iraqi Panel Law with the two sections of the criminal foundation, (incrimination and penalty). The first talks about the effect of the marital relation on incrimination and permission through a number of actions which marital relations plays a role in incrimination or permissibility such as adultery, making an Invalid marriage contract and husbands’ abuse of wife, using his right of discipline as a reason of permissibility reasons. In the second section we talk about the effect of this relation on the incrimination field through a number of crimes in which the marital relation makes an effect in increase, decrease or exemption of the punishment whether it is concerned with the public interest or the personal interest.   

The researcher reached at the following findings:

1. The marital relation has a great effect on considering a person adulterer, because the adulterer is not considered so in the point of view of law if the sexual relation is done by a man and a woman who are not married, so the marital relation here is the criterion for the conduct to be incriminated as adultery not.
2. The marital relation has a great effect on penalty through considering the crime as aggravating factor, a legal excuse to reduce the punishment or a barrier in executing the penalty such as the crime of incitement to adultery and immorality (Article 9 of Criminal law), reduction of penalty in crimes concerning the national security of the state (Article 183 Criminal law) and a homicide committed by a husband caught his wife red handed with adultery. An example of the marital relation which is exempted from penalty are those connected with crimes concerning the external security of the state (Article 183).