[ad_1]
The fidelity that we promise each other after marriage is not always respected by the spouse. By “going somewhere else”, the latter commits a crime that makes them prosecuted for adultery. What are the penalties for committing this crime? How is the proof of this thing carried out? Why do we rarely encounter criminal prosecutions for adultery in Burkina Faso? To these questions, Boureima Sawadogo, the Faso prosecutor at the High Court of Koudougou, deigned to give some answers. Read instead!
Lefaso.net: How do we define adultery?
Boureima Sawadogo: Adultery is a crime under the Criminal Code. Simply put, it is the fact that a person in a marriage relationship has an extramarital relationship with someone other than the husband or wife. In a sense, it is evidence of infidelity between the spouses.
How to prove adultery in court?
There are several evidentiary elements that qualify a criminal act as adultery. First of all, it can be done through the report of the bailiff. As a public official, the bailiff is authorized to make findings that can be cited as evidence by a party in court. In this case, the victim will contact the bailiff to establish facts or acts of infidelity by his spouse. Then, based on the victim’s complaint, adultery can be proved through the report of the judicial police. It may also come from the confession of the adulterer. Finally, correspondence or communications between the criminal husband or wife and his lover (accomplice) can be used to prove adultery, but strictly abide by the principles of evidentiary fairness in criminal cases.
What is the punishment for adultery?
In the previously repealed penal code (1996 Penal Code), adultery was punishable by imprisonment and a fine. But with the entry into force of the new penal code (2018 Penal Code), legislators have relaxed the penalties. From now on, adultery will be punished by a fine of 250,000 to 600,000 CFA francs.
Have you ever come across such cases in court?
Yes, we have dealt with such cases in court, and courts often hear complaints against husbands or wives for adultery. But from my personal experience, the complainant eventually withdraws the complaint; this automatically ends the affair because adultery can only be prosecuted after the victim has filed a complaint. Otherwise, when the complainant withdraws the complaint, the matter is closed and no longer discussed. Therefore, we do not go to the judgment stage because after mediation between the parties, the parties are undoubtedly able to reconcile.
So isn’t this a common crime we come across in court?
Since I have very little experience in this area, I would say no. No, because we rarely come across complaints of adultery. Yet, these are facts commonly cited in divorce cases. I am not a judge and I do not get involved in divorce cases, but from what I have observed, this is one of the main reasons cited in divorce cases. It is a social fact that exists and is real. It is indisputable! But in criminal cases, I can tell you that we rarely receive complaints or adultery.
Why do you think?
As I mentioned above, the legislature has softened the penalties for adultery. It is not the same in 1996 and in 2018. I am not a legislator, so I do not know why the sanctions reserved for this were softened. Maybe he considered that this is not a serious disturbance of public order. Maybe also because this phenomenon is so widespread that it is no longer really appropriate to increase the penalty. Or, finally, he said to himself that after the conviction, it will be difficult for the jailed spouse to live under the same roof with the victim again.
Of course, considering the social and cultural constraints…?
Effectively! But not only that! In our society, people often prefer mediation, which means that they shy away from justice. They believe that dirty laundry is washed at home, and going to court exposes the private life of the couple. So, some people can say that because my partner summoned me to court, he or she can no longer live with me. These are the assumptions that were made, and perhaps the beliefs of the legislator were laid at the time of writing. In practice, I observe that there is a certain tolerance of this phenomenon in society. But there is no need to belittle this practice, which is still a criminal offense that often leads to irreversible consequences for couples.
Does adultery include situations where a spouse who is still in a marriage relationship marries someone else without the spouse’s knowledge while maintaining an extramarital relationship with that person?
No. It has nothing to do with this. It has nothing to do with this, because in this case we are talking about bigamy. For bigamy we have to understand the fact that a man or a woman who is already married remarries in a monogamous marriage. Monogamy means being married to one woman and not being able to remarry another, except, of course, in the case of the dissolution of the marriage. Therefore, as long as you are still bound by the bonds of a monogamous marriage and you remarry, you are committing bigamy. This is another crime that is also punishable, but is completely different from adultery.
Reviews collected by Erwan Compaoré
Lefaso.com
[ad_2]
Source link
