Criminal Law Notes: Concubinage

ACTS PUNISHED

1. By keeping a mistress in the conjugal dwelling; or
2. By having sexual intercourse, under scandalous circumstances, with a woman who is not his wife; or
3. By cohabiting with her in any other place

ELEMENTS

1. That the man must be married
2. That he committed any of the said acts
3. That as regards the woman, she must know him to be married

WHO MAY BE SUED

1. Married man; and
2. Woman who knew him to be married

WHO MAY SUE

• In adultery or concubinage, the complaint must come from the offended spouse. Complainant must be a spouse at the time of the complaint.

MERE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE BY MARRIED MAN DOES NOT MAKE HIM LIABLE

• A married man is not liable for concubinage for mere sexual relations with a woman not his wife

FIRST ACT PUNISHED: By keeping a mistress in the conjugal dwelling

• It is necessary that the woman is taken by the accused into the conjugal dwelling as a concubine (JBL Reyes).
• Conjugal dwelling, defined: The home of the husband and wife even if the wife happens to be temporarily absent on any account

SECOND ACT PUNISHED: By having sexual intercourse, under scandalous circumstances, with a woman who is not his wife

• It is only when the mistress is kept elsewhere outside the conjugal dwelling that “scandalous circumstances” become an element of the crime.
• Scandal, defined: Consists of any reprehensible word or deed that offends public conscience, redounds to the detriment of the feelings of honest persons, and gives occasion to the neighbors’ spiritual damage or ruin.
• When spies are employed, there is no evidence of scandalous circumstances.

THIRD ACT PUNISHED: By cohabiting with her in any other place

• Cohabit, defined: it means dwelling together as husband and wife, or in sexual intercourse, and comprises a continued period of time. Hence the offense is not the single act of adultery; it is cohabiting in a state of adultery; and it may be a week, a month, a year, or longer, but still it is one offense only. (People v. Pitoc and Del Basco, Sept. 18, 1922) (The use of the word adultery does not make the definition exclusive to the said crime)
• Thus, there is no concubinage if a married man is surprised in the act of sexual intercourse with a woman not his wife in a hotel.

QUERY

• Married man sleeps with a married woman in a scandalous manner. What crime(s) are committed by the married man? Adultery and concubinage

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