APPRAISAL OF THE PUNISHMENT FOR THE OFFENCE OF BIGAMY UNDER THE AUSTRALIAN LAW, NIGERIAN LAW AND UNITED KINGDOM LAW
Marriage is a social and legal relationship between two
consenting adults. There are legal regulations to maintain
the sanctity of marriage and to prevent actions deemed
offensive to public morals. Every legal system, therefore,
presents a conception of marriage, which states what can
validly constitute a marriage, stipulates actions that are
wrong, and provides ground for its dissolution. One of
these vices is bigamy. This paper through a textual review,
focuses on bigamy and the legal implications of adultery.
It examines bigamy as a subset of polygamy, which can
either be polygamy (where a man marries more than one
woman) or polyandry (where a woman marries more than
one man). The paper finds that, in whatever form it occurs,
bigamy is the direct opposite of monogamy, which is
marriage to one person. Bigamy is generally a criminal
offense, and it is governed by the Criminal Code of various
southern States excluding Lagos State in Nigeria and the
Penal Code of various northern states in Nigeria. Bigamy
is distinct from adultery. It is a criminal offence if it is
committed knowingly. The offence of bigamy places
prohibitions on situations where a married person purports
to marry again. It has a long history within the Western
legal tradition. Nigeria is a polygamous society and in that
light the offence of bigamy was not known. The research
revealed that the offence was imported into Nigeria as a received English Law. The research recommends and
identify how court interpret and apply the Laws on bigamy.
It further looks at the cultural, social and historical contexts
that shape the laws and attitude toward bigamy in each
country of focus, this include exploring how religious or
traditional practices influence the legal framework and
enforcement of bigamy laws.
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