Moroccan Court Makes Landmark Ruling on Marital Rape, Challenging Legal Norms

The judgment of the Criminal Chamber of Appeal of Tangier on the case of "marital rape" in Larache has just been revealed by Legal Agenda, an Arabic-speaking legal journal where Moroccan practitioners regularly publish, reports Médias24. Contrary to what had agitated the press since March when the decision was handed down, the Court of Appeal did indeed recognize the existence of marital rape. "Given the confessions of the accused", the "statements of the plaintiff" as well as the medical certificate and the report of the judicial police, "the Court is convinced that the crime of rape with defloration is established" against the accused "in accordance with Articles 486 and 488 of the Penal Code".

This decision qualifies as "incorrect" the judgment of first instance which, despite the existence of evidence, had spoken of "assault and battery" on the pretext that there was no need to "speak of rape in the presence of an act of marriage". The Tangier Court of Appeal considers that "the marital bond must ensure the protection of the wife and must not be used as a pretext to consume a sexual act to which she has not consented".

But while condemning the husband for raping his wife, the Court granted him a "suspended sentence" for an offense whose minimum sentence is nevertheless 5 years according to Article 486 of the Penal Code. To grant "extenuating circumstances" to the accused, the Court of Appeal was based on "the absence of a criminal record", the "withdrawal of the complaint by the wife" and the maintenance of the marital relationship.