MP’s divided over pardoning the rapist

In its analysis of the discussions during the August 16 legislative session on Article 522 of the Penal Code that exonerates the rapist should he marry his victim, the Legal Agenda made clear that the amendment by the Parliamentary Administrative and Justice Committee has excluded the crime of forced sex with a minor (aged between 15 and 18 years) by means of deception to marry the victim when it retained Articles 505 and 518. Displaying MPs viewpoints on the exception, the Legal Agenda noted that Ali Ammar, Nawwaf Mousawi, Imad Hout and Samir Jisr maintained that in the Personal Status laws there are certain tenets that cannot be disputed, while the House Speaker explained that under Muslim personal status laws marriage is approved if the guardian of the minor consents to it. On the opposite front, MPs Sammy Gemayel, Alan Aoun, Boutros Harb, Elie Kayrouz and Jean Ogassapian turned down the exception stating that it condones underage marriages (under 18 years). Elie Kayrouz who submitted the amendment said that it did not meet his ambition in this regard, pressing for revoking the Article without exclusions. In the same vein, the president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), Claudine Aoun Roukoz, stressed during a meeting last Thursday with President Michel Aoun and PM Saad Hariri that repeal of Article 522 has not achieved its sought after purpose as its effects remain under Articles 505 and 518. She called for the modification of all legislations to the effect of protection of underage girls from violence in its physical and moral forms. (for the full interventions made by deputies please visit the following link: http://legal-agenda.com/article.php?id=3867).Legal Agenda, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, August 17, 18, 2017)

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