Bigamy#United Kingdom

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|date=January 2013}} 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.

{{See also|Legal status of polygamy}}

File:Wartburg-Philipp.von.Hessen.JPG, 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.

{{cite news

|url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm

|last = Turley

|first = Jonathan

|title = Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy

|newspaper = USA Today

|date = 3 October 2004

|access-date = 2012-07-30

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120722135630/http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm

|archive-date = 22 July 2012

}} 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.{{cite book |last= Shaw |first= Malcolm Nathan |title= International law |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year= 2003 |edition= 5th |pages= [https://archive.org/details/internationallaw0000shaw/page/684 684] |isbn= 0-521-82473-7 |url= https://archive.org/details/internationallaw0000shaw |url-access= registration }}

{{More citations needed section|date=September 2020}}

• Australia: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.{{cite web |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma196185/s94.html |title=Marriage Act 1961, s 94}}
• Belgium: Illegal. Five to ten years' imprisonment."strafwetboek" article 391
• Brazil: Illegal. Two to six years' imprisonment.Penal code of Brazil, Art. 235
• Canada: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.Criminal Code, sect 290, 291.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/polygamy/ |title=CBC News in Depth: Polygamy |access-date=2009-01-11 |date=2008-04-25 |publisher=CBC.ca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209013653/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/polygamy/ |archive-date= 9 February 2009 |url-status=live}}
• 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|date=September 2020}}
• 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.{{cite news

|url = http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-604578

|title = La Bigamia

|newspaper = El Tiempo

|last = Redactora

|first = Myriam Amparo Ramírez

|date = 24 February 2001

|language = es

|access-date = 2012-07-30

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005095553/http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-604578

|archive-date = 5 October 2012

}}

• Egypt: Legal for men if first wife consents.
• Eritrea: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.
• Germany: Illegal. Up to three years' imprisonment.{{cite web |url=https://dejure.org/gesetze/StGB/172.html|title= § 172 Doppelehe; doppelte Lebenspartnerschaft |access-date=2022-02-11}}
• Ghana: Illegal. Up to six months' imprisonment.
• Hong Kong: Illegal. Up to seven years' imprisonment.{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/D2769881999F47B3482564840019D2F9/D319AB36B53962D9C8256483002848AA?OpenDocument|title= Offences Against The Person Ordinance Cap 212 s 45 Bigamy |access-date=2017-01-20}}
• Iceland: Illegal.{{cite web |url=http://eng.domsmalaraduneyti.is/laws-and-regulations/nr/112/|title=Icelandic Act on Marriage No. 31/1993, Art. 11 |access-date=2009-01-11 |date=2008-01-09 |publisher=Icelandic Ministry of Justice |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302190808/http://eng.domsmalaraduneyti.is/laws-and-regulations/nr/112 |archive-date=2009-03-02}}
• India: Legal only for Muslim men but very rarely practiced. 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.{{cite news |last1=Raleigh |first1=David |title=Woman fined €100 after admitting bigamy at Limerick court |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/bigamy-limerick-court-3127863-Dec2016/ |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=TheJournal.ie |date=8 December 2016 |language=en |quote=Bigamy carries a maximum seven-year jail sentence on indictment}}; {{cite web |title=Offences Against The Person Act 1861, s. 57 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1861/act/100/section/57/enacted/en/html |website=electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) |access-date=11 June 2020 |language=en}}; {{cite web |title=British Public Statutes Affected: 1861 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/isbc/bps1861.html |website=Irish Statute Book |access-date=11 June 2020 |date=29 May 2020}} The Director of Public Prosecutions has discretion and rarely prosecutes.{{Cite news |title=Government is unlikely to treat bigamy law reform as urgent |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/government-is-unlikely-to-treat-bigamy-law-reform-as-urgent-1.208932 |access-date=11 June 2020 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=21 July 1999 |language=en}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=Maebh |editor1-last=Mair |editor1-first=Jane |editor2-last=Örücü |editor2-first=Esin|title=The place of religion in family law: a comparative search |series=European family law |volume=30 |date=2011 |publisher=Intersentia |location=Cambridge; Portland, OR |isbn=978-1-78068-015-6 |url=https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/82370/HARDING_2011_pre_chapter_religion_and_family_law_in_Ireland_catholic_approach_to_Irish_nullity.pdf |access-date=11 June 2020 |chapter=Religion and family law in Ireland: from a Catholic protection of marriage to a "Catholic" approach to nullity}}; {{cite journal |title=People (Attorney General) v Ballins (IRCC) |journal=Irish Jurist |date=1964 |volume=30 |pages=14–16 |jstor=44509613?seq=16 |issn=0021-1273}} The 1861 act replaced an 1829 act[https://books.google.com/books?id=5bAuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA200 10 Geo 4 c.34 s.26], repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1861; see {{cite book |author-link=James Edward Davis |last1=Davis |first1=James Edward |title=The Criminal Law Consolidation Statutes of the 24 & 25 of Victoria, chapters 94 to 100 |date=1861 |publisher=Butterworths |pages=14, 276–277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBFXAAAAcAAJ |access-date=11 June 2020 |language=en}} which in turn replaced acts of 1725 and 1635.{{cite book |last1=Luddy |first1=Maria |last2=O'Dowd |first2=Mary |title=Marriage in Ireland, 1660–1925 |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-48617-0 |pages=287–288 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4o7fDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |access-date=11 June 2020 |language=en |chapter=Bigamy}}
• Iran: Legal for men with consent of first wife. Rarely practised.
• Israel: Illegal for members of each confessional community. Up to five years' imprisonment.Penal Law Amendment (Bigamy) Law, 5719 (1959), which applies to members of each confessional community, including the Jewish and Muslim. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/839776 "The English Law of Bigamy in a Multi-Confessional Society: The Israel Experience"] by P Shifman.
• Italy: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment.Article 556 of Italian Penal Code.
• 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.{{Cite web

|url = http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/malaysia.htm

|title = Malaysia

|publisher = Emory Law School

|work = Islamic Family Law

|access-date = 2012-07-30

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120728115842/http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/malaysia.htm

|archive-date = 2012-07-28

}}

• Maldives: Permitted for anyone.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
• Malta: Illegal.Marriage Act of 1975, section 6.
• 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.Crimes Act 1961, section 205. 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.Article 206 of the Polish Penal Code
• Portugal: Illegal. Up to two years' imprisonment, or up to 240 days of day-fine.Article 247 of the Penal Code of Portugal.
• Romania: Illegal.Romanian Penal Code, art 376{{cite web |url=http://legeaz.net/noul-cod-penal/art-376|title=Art. 376 Noul Cod Penal Bigamia Infracţiuni contra familiei |publisher=legeaz.net|access-date=28 April 2018}}Also Civil Code of Romania, art 273.{{cite web |url=http://legeaz.net/noul-cod-civil/art-273-bigamia-conditiile-de-fond-pentru-incheierea-casatoriei-incheierea-casatoriei |title=Art. 273 Noul cod civil Bigamia Condiţiile de fond pentru încheierea căsătoriei Încheierea căsătoriei |publisher=legeaz.net |access-date=28 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325015937/http://legeaz.net/noul-cod-civil/art-273-bigamia-conditiile-de-fond-pentru-incheierea-casatoriei-incheierea-casatoriei |archive-date=25 March 2016}}
• Russia: Illegal.
• Saudi Arabia: Bigamy or polygamy is legal for men with some restrictions, but has become less common in the late 1900s and early 2000s; see Polygamy in Saudi Arabia
• 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).
• Spain: Illegal. Between six months to a year's imprisonment (Art. 217 of the Criminal Code).{{Cite web |title=BOE-A-1995-25444 Ley Orgánica 10/1995, de 23 de noviembre, del Código Penal. |url=https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1995-25444 |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.boe.es}}
• 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.Penal Code of Turkey https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/6453/file/Turkey_CC_2004_am2016_en.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902102301/https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/6453/file/Turkey_CC_2004_am2016_en.pdf|date=2021-09-02}}, Article 230.
• 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' imprisonmentThe Offences against the Person Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c.100), section 57; the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo.6 c.58), section 1(1) or on summary conviction up to six months' imprisonment, or to a fine of a prescribed sum, or to both.The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (c.43), [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/32 section 32(1)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111215737/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/32 |date=2012-01-11 }}

• United States: Illegal in every state. Up to five years' imprisonment. (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.

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{{Close plural relationships}}

{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}

{{Polygamous marriage}}

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Category:Crimes

Category:Polygamy law