In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another.[1] A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. In the case of a person in the process of divorcing their spouse, that person is taken to be legally married until such time as the divorce becomes final or absolute under the law of the relevant jurisdiction. Bigamy laws do not apply to couples in a de facto or cohabitation relationship, or that enter such relationships when one is legally married. If the prior marriage is for any reason void, the couple is not married, and hence each party is free to marry another without falling foul of the bigamy laws.
Bigamy is a crime in most countries that recognise only monogamous marriages. When it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other. In countries that have bigamy laws, with a few exceptions (such as Egypt and Iran), consent from a prior spouse makes no difference to the legality of the second marriage, which is usually considered void.
Even before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, Diocletian and Maximian passed strict anti-polygamy laws in 285 AD that mandated monogamy as the only form of legal marital relationship, as had traditionally been the case in classical Greece and Rome.[citation needed] In 393, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I issued an imperial edict to extend the ban on polygamy to Jewish communities. In 1000, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah ruled polygamy inadmissible within Ashkenazi Jewish communities living in a Christian environment.
Most western countries do not recognise polygamous marriages, and consider bigamy a crime. Several countries also prohibit people from living a polygamous lifestyle. This is the case with the United States where the criminalisation of a polygamous lifestyle originated as anti-Mormon laws, although they are rarely enforced.[2]De facto polygamy is illegal under US federal law, the Edmunds Act.
In diplomatic law, consular spouses from polygamous countries are sometimes exempt from a general prohibition on polygamy in host countries. In some such countries, only one spouse of a polygamous diplomat may be accredited, however.[3]
By country and region
Australia: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.[4]
Belgium: Illegal. Five to ten years' imprisonment.[5]
Brazil: Illegal. Two to six years' imprisonment.[6]
Canada: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.[7][8]
China: Illegal. Up to two years' imprisonment, and up to three years for bigamy with soldiers (but tolerated for some minorities, such as Tibetans, in some rural areas in the south-west).[citation needed]
Colombia: Illegal with exceptions (such as religion). Although bigamy no longer exists as a lone figure in the Colombian judicial code, marrying someone new without dissolving an earlier marriage may yield to other felonies such as civil status forgery or suppression of information.[9]
India: Legal only for Muslim men but very rarely practised. Up to 10 years' imprisonment for others except in the state of Goa for Hindus due to its own civil code.
Indonesia: Depending on the specific tribe in question, bigamy can be legal or illegal.
Malaysia: Illegal for non-Muslims under federal jurisdiction. Under section 494 of Chapter XX of the Penal Code, non-Muslim offenders found guilty of bigamy or polygamy can be punished up to seven years' imprisonment. Bigamy or polygamy is legal only for Muslim men with restrictions under state jurisdiction, rarely practised.[20]
Morocco: Permitted for Muslims, restrictions apply.
Netherlands: Illegal. Up to six years' imprisonment. If the new partner is aware of the bigamy they can be imprisoned for a maximum of four years.
New Zealand: Illegal.[22] Up to seven years' imprisonment, or up to two years' imprisonment if the judge is satisfied the second spouse was aware their marriage would be void.
Thailand: Prior to October 1, 1935, polygamy in Thailand could be freely practised and recognised under civil law. Since its abolition, it is still practised and widely accepted in Thailand, though no longer recognised, as the law states "A man or a woman cannot marry each other while one of them has a spouse."
On indictment, up to seven years' imprisonment[30] or on summary conviction up to six months' imprisonment, or to a fine of a prescribed sum, or to both.[31]
Uzbekistan: Illegal. Up to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 50 to 150 monthly wage installments. Women are not punished if they marry a man who has another unknown wife.
References
^"Definition of BIGAMY". www.merriam-webster.com. from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
^ Turley, Jonathan (3 October 2004). "Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy". USA Today. from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
^"Offences Against The Person Ordinance Cap 212 s 45 Bigamy". Retrieved 2017-01-20.
^. Icelandic Ministry of Justice. 2008-01-09. Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
^Raleigh, David (8 December 2016). "Woman fined €100 after admitting bigamy at Limerick court". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 11 June 2020. Bigamy carries a maximum seven-year jail sentence on indictment; "Offences Against The Person Act 1861, s. 57". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Retrieved 11 June 2020.; "British Public Statutes Affected: 1861". Irish Statute Book. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^"Government is unlikely to treat bigamy law reform as urgent". The Irish Times. 21 July 1999. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^Harding, Maebh (2011). "Religion and family law in Ireland: from a Catholic protection of marriage to a "Catholic" approach to nullity". In Mair, Jane; Örücü, Esin (eds.). The place of religion in family law: a comparative search(PDF). European family law. Vol. 30. Cambridge; Portland, OR: Intersentia. ISBN978-1-78068-015-6. Retrieved 11 June 2020.; "People (Attorney General) v Ballins (IRCC)". Irish Jurist. 30: 14–16. 1964. ISSN 0021-1273. JSTOR 44509613?seq=16.
^10 Geo 4 c.34 s.26, repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1861; see Davis, James Edward (1861). The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, chapters 94 to 100. Butterworths. pp. 14, 276–277. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^Luddy, Maria; O'Dowd, Mary (2020). "Bigamy". Marriage in Ireland, 1660–1925. Cambridge University Press. pp. 287–288. ISBN978-1-108-48617-0. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^Penal Law Amendment (Bigamy) Law, 5719 (1959), which applies to members of each confessional community, including the Jewish and Muslim. "The English Law of Bigamy in a Multi-Confessional Society: The Israel Experience" by P Shifman.
^"Art. 273 Noul cod civil Bigamia Condiţiile de fond pentru încheierea căsătoriei Încheierea căsătoriei". legeaz.net. from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
bigamy, other, uses, disambiguation, cultures, where, monogamy, mandated, bigamy, entering, into, marriage, with, person, while, still, legally, married, another, legal, facto, separation, couple, does, alter, their, marital, status, married, persons, case, pe. For other uses see Bigamy disambiguation In cultures where monogamy is mandated bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another 1 A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons In the case of a person in the process of divorcing their spouse that person is taken to be legally married until such time as the divorce becomes final or absolute under the law of the relevant jurisdiction Bigamy laws do not apply to couples in a de facto or cohabitation relationship or that enter such relationships when one is legally married If the prior marriage is for any reason void the couple is not married and hence each party is free to marry another without falling foul of the bigamy laws Elkanah and his two wives Bigamy is a crime in most countries that recognise only monogamous marriages When it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other In countries that have bigamy laws with a few exceptions such as Egypt and Iran consent from a prior spouse makes no difference to the legality of the second marriage which is usually considered void Contents 1 History of anti bigamy laws 2 Legal situation 2 1 By country and region 3 References 4 External linksHistory of anti bigamy laws EditEven before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire Diocletian and Maximian passed strict anti polygamy laws in 285 AD that mandated monogamy as the only form of legal marital relationship as had traditionally been the case in classical Greece and Rome citation needed In 393 the Roman Emperor Theodosius I issued an imperial edict to extend the ban on polygamy to Jewish communities In 1000 Rabbi Gershom ben Judah ruled polygamy inadmissible within Ashkenazi Jewish communities living in a Christian environment Legal situation EditSee also Legal status of polygamy Philip I Landgrave of Hesse was exposed as a bigamist in 1540 by his sister Elisabeth Most western countries do not recognise polygamous marriages and consider bigamy a crime Several countries also prohibit people from living a polygamous lifestyle This is the case with the United States where the criminalisation of a polygamous lifestyle originated as anti Mormon laws although they are rarely enforced 2 De facto polygamy is illegal under US federal law the Edmunds Act In diplomatic law consular spouses from polygamous countries are sometimes exempt from a general prohibition on polygamy in host countries In some such countries only one spouse of a polygamous diplomat may be accredited however 3 By country and region Edit This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Bigamy news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Australia Illegal Up to five years imprisonment 4 Belgium Illegal Five to ten years imprisonment 5 Brazil Illegal Two to six years imprisonment 6 Canada Illegal Up to five years imprisonment 7 8 China Illegal Up to two years imprisonment and up to three years for bigamy with soldiers but tolerated for some minorities such as Tibetans in some rural areas in the south west citation needed Colombia Illegal with exceptions such as religion Although bigamy no longer exists as a lone figure in the Colombian judicial code marrying someone new without dissolving an earlier marriage may yield to other felonies such as civil status forgery or suppression of information 9 Egypt Legal for men if first wife consents Eritrea Illegal Up to five years imprisonment Germany Illegal Up to three years imprisonment 10 Ghana Illegal Up to six months imprisonment Hong Kong Illegal Up to seven years imprisonment 11 Iceland Illegal 12 India Legal only for Muslim men but very rarely practised Up to 10 years imprisonment for others except in the state of Goa for Hindus due to its own civil code Indonesia Depending on the specific tribe in question bigamy can be legal or illegal Republic of Ireland A criminal offence under section 57 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 up to seven years imprisonment 13 The Director of Public Prosecutions has discretion and rarely prosecutes 14 Catholic canon law permits a second marriage if the first was in a UK register office or annulled by the church the state considered such marriages bigamous without a civil annulment more restricted than a church annulment or divorce illegal from 1937 until 1996 and two cases in the 1960s led to suspended sentences 15 The 1861 act replaced an 1829 act 16 which in turn replaced acts of 1725 and 1635 17 Iran Legal for men with consent of first wife Rarely practised Israel Illegal for members of each confessional community Up to five years imprisonment 18 Italy Illegal Up to five years imprisonment 19 Libya Legal for men with conditions Malaysia Illegal for non Muslims under federal jurisdiction Under section 494 of Chapter XX of the Penal Code non Muslim offenders found guilty of bigamy or polygamy can be punished up to seven years imprisonment Bigamy or polygamy is legal only for Muslim men with restrictions under state jurisdiction rarely practised 20 Maldives Permitted for anyone citation needed Malta Illegal 21 Morocco Permitted for Muslims restrictions apply Netherlands Illegal Up to six years imprisonment If the new partner is aware of the bigamy they can be imprisoned for a maximum of four years New Zealand Illegal 22 Up to seven years imprisonment or up to two years imprisonment if the judge is satisfied the second spouse was aware their marriage would be void Pakistan Polygamy in Pakistan is permitted to men with some restrictions Philippines Legal for Muslim men Others face six to 12 years imprisonment and legal dissolution of marriage Poland illegal up to two years imprisonment 23 Portugal Illegal Up to two years imprisonment or up to 240 days of day fine 24 Romania Illegal 25 26 27 28 Saudi Arabia Bigamy or polygamy is legal for men Somalia Polygamy is legal for men at marriage courts long standing tradition South Africa Legal for men under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 1998 for customary marriages Under civil law marriages regulated by the Marriage Act any marriage in addition to an already existing one is invalid but not criminalised Sudan Bigamy or polygamy is legal for men Taiwan Illegal Up to five years imprisonment Thailand Prior to October 1 1935 polygamy in Thailand could be freely practised and recognised under civil law Since its abolition it is still practised and widely accepted in Thailand though no longer recognised as the law states A man or a woman cannot marry each other while one of them has a spouse Tunisia Illegal Up to five years imprisonment Turkey Illegal Up to two years imprisonment 29 United Kingdom Illegal although marriages performed abroad may be recognised for some legal purposes see Polygamy in the United Kingdom On indictment up to seven years imprisonment 30 or on summary conviction up to six months imprisonment or to a fine of a prescribed sum or to both 31 United States Illegal in every state Up to five years imprisonment But see Polygamy in North America Uzbekistan Illegal Up to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 50 to 150 monthly wage installments Women are not punished if they marry a man who has another unknown wife References Edit Definition of BIGAMY www merriam webster com Archived from the original on 28 September 2017 Retrieved 28 April 2018 Turley Jonathan 3 October 2004 Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy USA Today Archived from the original on 22 July 2012 Retrieved 2012 07 30 Shaw Malcolm Nathan 2003 International law 5th ed Cambridge University Press pp 684 ISBN 0 521 82473 7 Marriage Act 1961 s 94 strafwetboek article 391 Penal code of Brazil Art 235 Criminal Code sect 290 291 CBC News in Depth Polygamy CBC ca 2008 04 25 Archived from the original on 9 February 2009 Retrieved 2009 01 11 Redactora Myriam Amparo Ramirez 24 February 2001 La Bigamia El Tiempo in Spanish Archived from the original on 5 October 2012 Retrieved 2012 07 30 172 Doppelehe doppelte Lebenspartnerschaft Retrieved 2022 02 11 Offences Against The Person Ordinance Cap 212 s 45 Bigamy Retrieved 2017 01 20 Icelandic Act on Marriage No 31 1993 Art 11 Icelandic Ministry of Justice 2008 01 09 Archived from the original on 2009 03 02 Retrieved 2009 01 11 Raleigh David 8 December 2016 Woman fined 100 after admitting bigamy at Limerick court TheJournal ie Retrieved 11 June 2020 Bigamy carries a maximum seven year jail sentence on indictment Offences Against The Person Act 1861 s 57 electronic Irish Statute Book eISB Retrieved 11 June 2020 British Public Statutes Affected 1861 Irish Statute Book 29 May 2020 Retrieved 11 June 2020 Government is unlikely to treat bigamy law reform as urgent The Irish Times 21 July 1999 Retrieved 11 June 2020 Harding Maebh 2011 Religion and family law in Ireland from a Catholic protection of marriage to a Catholic approach to nullity In Mair Jane Orucu Esin eds The place of religion in family law a comparative search PDF European family law Vol 30 Cambridge Portland OR Intersentia ISBN 978 1 78068 015 6 Retrieved 11 June 2020 People Attorney General v Ballins IRCC Irish Jurist 30 14 16 1964 ISSN 0021 1273 JSTOR 44509613 seq 16 10 Geo 4 c 34 s 26 repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1861 see Davis James Edward 1861 The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 amp 25 of Victoria chapters 94 to 100 Butterworths pp 14 276 277 Retrieved 11 June 2020 Luddy Maria O Dowd Mary 2020 Bigamy Marriage in Ireland 1660 1925 Cambridge University Press pp 287 288 ISBN 978 1 108 48617 0 Retrieved 11 June 2020 Penal Law Amendment Bigamy Law 5719 1959 which applies to members of each confessional community including the Jewish and Muslim The English Law of Bigamy in a Multi Confessional Society The Israel Experience by P Shifman Article 556 of Italian Penal Code Malaysia Islamic Family Law Emory Law School Archived from the original on 2012 07 28 Retrieved 2012 07 30 Marriage Act of 1975 section 6 Crimes Act 1961 section 205 Article 206 of the Polish Penal Code Article 247 of the Penal Code of Portugal Romanian Penal Code art 376 Art 376 Noul Cod Penal Bigamia Infracţiuni contra familiei legeaz net Retrieved 28 April 2018 Also Civil Code of Romania art 273 Art 273 Noul cod civil Bigamia Condiţiile de fond pentru incheierea căsătoriei Incheierea căsătoriei legeaz net Archived from the original on 25 March 2016 Retrieved 28 April 2018 Penal Code of Turkey https www legislationline org download id 6453 file Turkey CC 2004 am2016 en pdf Archived 2021 09 02 at the Wayback Machine Article 230 The Offences against the Person Act 1861 24 amp 25 Vict c 100 section 57 the Criminal Justice Act 1948 11 amp 12 Geo 6 c 58 section 1 1 The Magistrates Courts Act 1980 c 43 section 32 1 Archived 2012 01 11 at the Wayback MachineExternal links Edit The dictionary definition of bigamy at Wiktionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bigamy amp oldid 1136681058, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
