Bigamy
Legal Definition and Related Resources of Bigamy
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Meanings, Synonyms, Etymology, Translations and More
Meaning of Bigamy
The criminal offense of contracting or going through the form of a second marriage, at a time when to the knowledge of the offender the first marriage is still existing.
Bigamy Alternative Definition
At Common Law. The willfully contracting a second marriage when the contracting party knows that the first is still subsisting. The state of a man who has two lives, or of a woman who has two husbands, living at the same time. When the man has more than two wives, or the woman more than two husbands, living at the same time, then the party is said to have committed polygamy; but the name of "bigamy" is more frequently given to this offense in legal proceedings. 1 Russ. Crimes, 187; Clark & Marshall. Crimes, 1103. "But as the substance of the offense is marrying a second time while having a lawful husband or wife living, without regard to the number of marriages that may have taken place, "bigamy" seems not an inappropriate term. The objection to its use urged by Blackstone (4 Bl. Comm. 163) seems to be founded not so much upon considerations of the etymology of the word, as upon the propriety of distinguishing the ecclesiastical offense, termed "bigamy" in the canon law, and defined below, from the offense known as "bigamy" in the modern criminal law. The same distinction is carefully made by Lord Coke, 4 Inst. 88. But the ecclesiastical offense being now obsolete, this reason ceases to have weight." Abbott. In the Canon Law. According to canonists, bigamy is threefold, viz., vera, interpretativa, et similitudinaria, real, interpretative, and similitudinary. The first consisted in marrying two wives successively (virgins they may be), or in once marrying a widow; the second consisted, not in a repeated marriage, but in marrying (e. g., meretricem vel ab alio corruptam) a harlot; the third arose from two marriages, indeed, but the one metaphorical or spiritual, the other carnal. This last was confined to persons initiated in sacred orders, or under the vow of continence. Deferriere"s Tract. Juris Canon, tit. 21. See, also, Bac. Abr. "Marriage."
Related Entries of Bigamy in the Lawi Project
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Bigamy in Historical Law
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What does Bigamy mean in American Law?
The definition of Bigamy in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:
The crime of marrying or purporting to marry a second spouse knowing that one"s prior marriage is still subsisting. Under Model Penal Code § 230.1, it is only a misdemeanor, and reasonable belief in one"s eligibility to remarry is a defense. Under old English ecclesiastical law, any second marriage, or even a man"s first marriage, but to a widow, was bigamy. Cf polyandry; polygamy.
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Bigamy in the Dictionary: Bigamy in our legal dictionaries
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Bigamy in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims
The offense of having two husbands or wives at the same time, the one de jure and the other de facto. 1 Bishop, Mar. & Div.§ 296. Strictly speaking, bigamy means "twice married", as its derivative shows. This was never an offense at common law; it was made an offense by the canonists. Polygamy is the proper term; but, by long usage, bigamy has come to mean the state of a man who has two wives, or a woman who has two husbands, at the same time. 4 Bl. Com. 163; 81 Pa. 432, 430; 1 law Quar. Rev. 474-76 (1885).
Note: This legal definition of Bigamy in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.
Bigamy in Law Enforcement
Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of bigamy.
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See Also
Law Enforcement Officer
Police Officer
Law Enforcement Agency
Further Reading
English Legal System: Bigamy
In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Bigamy:
The act of going through a marriage ceremony with someone when one is already lawfully married to someone else. Bigamy is a crime, punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment; however, there is a defence if the accused honestly and reasonably believed that his or her first spouse was dead or that their previous marriage had been dissolved or annulled or was void. There is also a special defence if the accused's spouse has been absent for at least seven years, and is therefore presumed by the accused to be dead, even if he does not have positive proof of the death. Even though a person is found not guilty of the crime of bigamy, the bigamous marriage will still be void if that person had a spouse living at the time that the second marriage was celebrated.
Bigamy, Sexual Behaviour and the Law
Further Reading
Bigamy is the condition of having two wives or two husbands at the same time. The second marriage to someone who is already legally married is void in most countries.
Bigamy is the condition of having two wives or two husbands at the same time. The second marriage to someone who is already legally married is void in most countries.
Bigamy