Article 93. The punishment shall also be extinguished, the pardon which the judges may grant at sentencing to the convicted, subject to a report of the Institute of Criminology regarding his personality, in the following cases:
. . . .
(8) for the perpetrators of crimes included in the previous clause [abduction, rape, or indecent assault] who declare their intention to marry the victim greater than 15 years of age, with her consent, the National Association for Children's Protection also consents and all circumstances of the case indicate that opposition to the marriage, on the part of those who exercise paternal authority, is unfounded and unjust. . . .

Note: Article 33 of the Constitution of Costa Rica: "Every man is equal before the law and there can be no discrimination committed against human dignity."

Article 558. Abduction.

(1) Whosoever carries off a woman by violence, or after having obtained her consent to abduction by intimidation of violence, trickery or deceit, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding three years.

(2) When the woman carried off is responsible and freely contracts with her abductor a valid marriage, proceedings shall be instituted only where such marriage is subsequently annulled by law.

Article 599. Non-Prosecution in the Event of Subsequent Marriage.

When the victim of rape, indecent assault or seduction, or abuse of her state of distress or dependence upon another freely contracts a marriage with the offender and where such marriage is not declared null and void, no prosecution shall follow. Where proceedings have already taken place and have resulted in a conviction, the sentence shall terminate forthwith.

Note: Article 25 of the Constitution of Ethiopia: "All persons shall be entitled to equal and adequate guarantees without distinction of any kind such as race, nation, nationality, colour, sex, language, religion, political or social origin, property, birth or other status."

Article 522. In the event a legal marriage is concluded between the person who committed any of the crimes mentioned in this chapter [including rape, kidnaping and statutory rape], and the victim, prosecution shall be stopped and in case a decision is rendered, the execution of such decision shall be suspended against the person who was subject to it.

Prosecution or the execution of the penalty shall be resumed before the lapse of three years in cases of misdemeanors and five years in cases of felonies, in the event such marriage ends by the divorce of the woman without a legitimate reason or by a divorce which is decided by court in favor of the woman.

Note: Article 7 of the Constitution of Lebanon: "All the Lebanese are equal before the law. They enjoy equal civil and political rights and are equally subjected to public charges and duties, without any distinction whatever."

Article 175. He who by means of deception engages in sexual acts or other analogous conduct, with a person between the ages of 14 and 18, will be punished by deprivation of liberty for no more than three years or by completing between thirty and seventy eight work periods of community service.

Article 178. In the case of article 175, the agent shall be exempt from the penalty if marriage is contracted with the victim so long as the victim's consent is given freely and in accordance with the law.

Note: Article 2 of the Constitution of Peru: "Every person has his/her right . . . to equality before the law, no one should be discriminated on the basis of origin, race, sex, language, religion, opinion, economic status or any other characteristic." The marriage exemption from penalty previously applied to all sexual crimes under the law in Peru. The law was recently amended to restrict the exemption to the crimes set forth in Article 175.

Article 116. Extinction of Crime By Marriage.

Marriage between the offender and the offended extinguishes the crime or the punishment where appropriate, in the case of rape, violent indecent assault, statutory rape or abduction.

Note: Article 8 of the Constitution of Uruguay: "All persons are equal before the law and no distinctions are recognized between individuals other than talent and personal capacity.

Section 375. Exception [to the definition of rape in Section 375]: Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under sixteen years of age is not rape.

Note: Article 15 of the Constitution of India: "The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them."

Section 375. Exception [to the definition of rape in Section 375]: Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife by a marriage which is valid under any written law for the time being in force, or is recognized in the Federation as valid, is not rape.

Note: Article 8 (1) of the Constitution of Malaysia: "All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law."

. . . any person who has carnal knowledge of a woman or girl not his wife, without her consent or with her consent if the consent is obtained by force . . . is guilty of a crime which is called rape.

Whoever compels a female person into a sexual relationship with whom he is not living in marital community, by using force, or threatening to directly attack the life and the body of the female person or of someone close to her, will be punished by a prison term from one to ten years.

Note: Article 20 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: "Citizens shall be equal irrespective of their nationality, race, sex, language, faith, political or other beliefs, education, social origin, property, or other personal status."

Section 55. Correction of Child, Pupil, Servant or Wife

(1) Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any persons which is done:

(a) by a parent or guardian for the purpose of correcting his child or ward, such child or ward being under sixteen years of age; or

(b) by a schoolmaster for the purpose of correcting a child under sixteen years of age entrusted to his charge; or

(c) by a master for the purpose of correcting his servant or apprentice, such servant or apprentice being under sixteen years of age; or

(d) by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful.

No correction is justifiable which is unreasonable in kind or degree, regard being had to the age and physical and mental condition of the person on whom it is inflicted; and no correction is justifiable in the case of a person who, by reason of tender years or otherwise, is incapable of understanding the purpose for which it is inflicted.

Note: Article 41 of the Constitution of Nigeria: "(1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person - (a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria . . . to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject . . . ."

Article 340. He who discovers his wife or one of his female unlawfuls, committing adultery with another, and he kills, wounds, or injures one or both of them, is exempt from any penalty. He who catches his wife, or one of his female ascendants or descendants or sisters with another in an unlawful bed and he kills or wounds or injures one or both of them, benefits from a reduction in penalty.

Article 418. Murder, injury and beating are excusable if they are committed by a husband on his wife as well as the accomplice at the moment in which he surprises them in the act of adultery.

Note: Article 5 of the Constitution of Morocco: "All Moroccan citizens shall be equal before the law."

Article 548.

1. He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery (flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty.

2. He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister in a "suspicious" state with another (attitude équivoque) benefits from a reduction of penalty.

Note: Article 45 of the Constitution of Syria: "The state guarantees women all opportunities enabling them to fully and effectively participate in the political, social, cultural, and economic life. The state removes the restrictions that prevent women's development and participation in building the socialist Arab society."

Article 74. Adultery, whether punishable by flogging or stoning, may be proven by the testimony of four just men or that of three just men and two just women.

Article 75. If adultery is punishable only by flogging it can be proven by the testimony of two just men and four just women.

Article 76. The testimony of women alone or in conjunction with the testimony of only one just man shall not prove adultery but it shall constitute false accusation which is a punishable act.

Article 100. The flogging of an adulterer shall be carried out while he is standing upright and his body bared except for his genitals. The lashes shall strike all parts of his body -- except his face, head and genitals -- with full force. The adulteress shall be flogged while she is seated and her clothing tightly bound to her body.

Article 102. The stoning of an adulterer or adulteress shall be carried out while each is placed in a hole and covered with soil, he up to his waist and she up to a line above her breasts. [Under Islamic law, a person is either stoned to death or manages to escape, in which case he or she will be allowed to go free.]

Article 300. The blood money for the first- or second-degree murder of a Muslim woman is half that of a murdered Muslim man.

Article 635. Women who appear in public without prescribed Islamic dress (hejab-e shar'i), shall be sentenced to either imprisonment of between 10 days and 2 months, or a fine of between 50,000 and 500,000 rials.

Note: Article 20 of the Constitution of Iran: "All citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria."