Why is adultery not subject to criminal or civil law?

Question

I am not religious, my point is purely one of law: If somebody hurts me in any other way, it is subject to criminal law. If someone steals from me, no matter how little; if somebody hurts me physically; if someone bullies, harasses or victimises me for race, religion, sexual orientation etc. (causing me emotional distress); if someone creates a hostile working environment (also causing emotional distress); all these warrant my protection by law, and rightly so. But for some reason the emotional distress and hurt caused by betrayal, lying and cheating, by both the unfaithful spouse and the 3rd party for some reason do not warrant my protection by law. Why is there this distinction?
Likewise breach of any other contract is a matter for law, but not the breach of a marriage contract. Why have the institution if it is not protected?

Answer 1

Because the lawmakers are the biggest adulterers out there. they wouldn't make a law that so many of them would fall victim to.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I can absolutely see your point which is well made. I think any law on the subject would be near impossible to enforce and if all adulterers were prosecuted it would put an impossible strain on the legal system.



Also, where do you draw the line?



Do you prosecute someone who has a drunken one night stand? Do you prosecute someone whose spouse is frigid or violent or cruel and who has stayed for the sake of the children but seeks solace with another person? What about someone who strays and is then forgiven...do you prosecute them?



Adultery is often tangible evidence of an unhappy marriage, so who is to blame? What about innocent third parties who did not know the person with whom they had forged a relationship was married? What about serial adulterers whose spouses keep taking them back?



I can envisage the legal system being swamped by those simply seeking revenge, all the while with their children having to watch a bitter legal battle alongside the trauma of divorce.



You use 'lying' as one of your points. Can you imagine the amount of time and energy which would need to be expended to prove that to a point of law?



What is the penalty? Prison? they are already bursting at the seams. Fines? Would money make the abandoned spouse feel any better?



I am not a big fan of the compensation culture anyway. Hurt feelings are part of life. Someone who has chosen carefully and nurtured their marriage carefully is unlikely to have to deal with adultery anyway. So I err on the side of walk away head held high and choose more carefully next time, rather than tying the legal system in knots to wreak revenge.

Answer 4

In civil law, you can only recover damages for "distress" or "loss of enjoyment" in very particular contractual actions, where the aim of the contract is to provide enjoyment.



It's trite law that social arrangements are only legally binding contracts if the parties expressly make them so. Marriages do not create a contractual obligation for sexual fidelity, therefore there is breach of contract, let a lone a breach which would give rise to an action for distress or loss of enjoyment.



It is not the buisness of criminal law to enforce social arrangements. Criminal law protects the interests of society, and it is irrelevant to those interest if your partner is unfaithful. The conduct which is prohibited by teh criminal law is hostile conduct - threats, explicit (technical assaults or threatening behaviour) or implicit (stalking). Even laws against discrimination deal with hostility, rather than mere indifference to a social obligation.



There are many sorts of distressing conduct which are not covered by the criminal law - public insults, breach of private promises etc. Just because something upsets you, that does not make it the buisness of the law or society to protect you from it, and rightly so. Civil or criminal actions for adultery would be expensive, and would benefit no one. Financial compensation for the wronged or fines or imprisonment for the adulterer would not repair the damage or be likely to deter wrongdoing - no one comits adultery in the expectation of being caught.

Answer 5

Good Question, and Adultery should be a criminal offence punishable by the courts. What a lot of people forget is that a marriage licence is not just a consensual agreement, It is also legally binding on each partner.

Now if one partner breaks that agreement by committing adultery they should be automatically to blame for the breakup and lose their share of the assets, the person who the partner committed adultery with should be sued in a criminal court and assets taken from him-her.

I really think that the law should get tough on this, its not just over indulged passions and emotions at stake.as you say people get hurt and the 3rd party as usual walks away.

Again the law simply does not take this seriously.

Answer 6

It is not possible to sue for adultery because there is no quantifiable (measurable) loss suffered. The idea of suing is to have whoever caused loss pay to repair the damage (e.g. a careless driver who damages another car may be sued for the cost of repairing it).

In the case of adultery it is not practical to assess the real cost of the 'damage' as there is no physical damage (no objects broken) at all.



The problems with making adultery a crime are:

- the difficulty of proving that the co-respondant (the third person) knew that their co-accused was married.

- the problem of dealing with cases where someone who is technically married (not formally divorced) but has been separated from their spouse for years is involved: if they have sex with someone else that is still adultery, but do they really deserve punishment?

Answer 7

This is a very tricky question.Some people have an affair because their husband or wife is not giving them the sex in marriage.However , you cannot divorce someone on the grounds that you are not having sex in that marriage.Therefore people turn a blind eye on it because its not illegal and has been known to happen since the beginning of the human race.

If you are speaking about someone else messing up your life by cheating with your own partner then you have 3 choices.You can leave them , ignore that its happening , or make your sexlife more interesting so that they dont want to go somewhere else for it .x

Answer 8

I agree with Jim J on this, if your partner commits adultery then fine you divorce her, but why on earth should she be able to take you to court for maintenance/half share of the home etc when she breaks the contract? The law truly is an *** at times.

Answer 9

As for the placement of work, it is unprofessional, incorrect, divisive, and can open others as much as blackmail or worst. i'm specific interior the organisation you artwork for is credible that it could have some policies against adultery or fraternization between workers. the in basic terms right element to do is to enable is play itself out. do no longer become in touch interior the middle of it. you are able to finally end up with out a job, somewhat if the corporate is in touch.

Answer 10

You will find so many laws on the books that I can positively say YOU are a criminal. The government picks and chooses who, and how they prosecute. Your premise is fine. It's just a sign of the times.

Answer 11

Actually it is still on the books as a crime in some states. As far as civil law, pretty much every state makes it a means for filing for divorce

Answer 12

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Answer 13

intential infliction of emotional distress is recognized almost everwhere as a civil matter.



Adultery is illegal in many places, but if two adult people choose to have consensual sex, do you expect law enforcement to spend resources prosecuting it.



Interesting argument regarding protection from all forms of harm.

Answer 14

Most jurisdictions have no-fault divorce now. You no longer need to sue for divorce, and you don't need to explain why you're doing it. But in states that still require good cause for divorce, adultery is acceptable cause every single time.

Answer 15

up to a few years ago committing adultery with the partner of the heir or the heir apparent to the throne of england, carried the death penalty, and was i believe classed as high treason, which is i think a minor criminal offence, even in today's decadent society.

Answer 16

Because society has no propriety ( I just made that up! ) any more and we live in a world where morals no longer count for anything.

Answer 17

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Answer 18

because the courts have enough crap to sort through.

divorcing and getting 1/2 is as far as it should go

Answer 19

It is covered under civil law as it is grounds for divorce.

Answer 20

I agree, that is completely bogus, you should be able to sue. I did not know you could not, ty for bringing that to my attention.

Answer 21

Because "stoning" is no longer legal either.