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ADULTERY (from Lat. adulterium)
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See also:ADULTERY (from See also:Lat. adulterium) , the sexual intercourse of a married See also:person with another than the offender's See also:husband or wife. Among the Greeks, and in the earlier See also:period of See also:Roman See also:law, it was not adultery unless a married woman was the offender. The See also:foundation of the later Roman law with regard to adultery was the lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis passed by See also:Augustus about 17 B.C. (See Dig. 48. 5; Paull. Rec. Sent. ii. 26; See also:Brisson, Ad See also:Leg. Jul. de Adult.) In See also:Great See also:Britain it was reckoned a spiritual offence, that is, cognizable by the spiritual courts only. The See also:common law took no further See also:notice of it than to allow the party aggrieved an See also:action of See also:damages. In See also:England, however, the action for " criminal conversation," as it was called, was nominally abolished by the Matrimonial Causes See also:Act r857; but by the 33rd See also:section of the same act, the husband may claim damages from one who has committed adultery with his wife in a See also:petition for See also:dissolution of the See also:marriage, or for judicial separation. In See also:Ireland the action for criminal conversation is still retained. In See also:Scotland damages may be recovered against an adulterer in an See also:ordinary action of damages in the See also:civil See also:court, and the latter may be found liable for the expenses of an action of See also:divorce if joined with the guilty See also:spouse as a co-defender. Adultery on the See also:part of the wife is, by the law of England, a ground for divorce, but on the part of the husband must be either incestuous or bigamous, or coupled with See also:cruelty qr See also:desertion for two or more years. In the See also:United States adultery is everywhere ground of divorce, and there is commonly no See also:prohibition against marrying the paramour or other re-marriage by the guilty party. Even if there be such a prohibition, it would be unavailing outof the See also:state in which the divorce was granted; marriage being a See also:contract which, if valid where executed, is generally treated as valid everywhere. Adultery gives a cause of action for damages to the wronged husband. It is in some states a criminal offence on the part of each party to the act, for which imprisonment in the See also:penitentiary or state See also:prison for a See also:term of years may be awarded. In England, a See also:complete divorce or dissolution of the marriage could, until the creation of the Court of See also:Probate and Divorce, be obtained only by an act of See also:parliament. This See also:procedure is still pursued in the See also:case of Irish divorces. In Scotland a complete divorce may be effected by proceedings in the Court of Session, as succeeding to the old ecclesiastical See also:jurisdiction of the commissioners. A person divorced for adultery is, by the law of See also:Scot-See also:land, prohibited from intermarrying with the paramour. In See also:France, See also:Germany, See also:Austria and other countries in See also:Europe, as well as in some of the states of the United States, adultery is a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment or See also:fine. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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