In law, a prohibited degree of kinship refers to a degree of consanguinity (relatedness) between persons that results in certain actions between them becoming illegal. Two major examples of prohibited degrees are found in incest and nepotism. Incest is a taboo across all cultures worldwide, but which specific relationships are considered incestuous varies by culture. Nepotism is different in that while many societies accept it as normal, most Western countries criminalize it.
One example of such criminalization is in the US state of Texas, which restricts the appointment or hiring of relatives by public officials.[1]
Contents |
The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church have a long history of various marital prohibitions. The Church of England has always prohibited marital relationships between relatives related up to the third degree (e.g., uncle-niece).
In certain Asian nations such as South Korea, it has historically been forbidden to marry someone with the same surname and region of origin regardless of the distance of the relation.
In England and Wales, the Marriage Act 1949[2] prohibits a marriage by a man and any of the persons mentioned in the first column, or between a woman and any of the persons mentioned in the second column, of the following table:
| Mother | Father |
| Daughter | Son |
| Father's mother | Father's father |
| Mother's mother | Mother's father |
| Son's daughter | Son's son |
| Daughter's daughter | Daughter's son |
| Sister | Brother |
| Father's sister | Father's brother |
| Mother's sister | Mother's brother |
| Brother's daughter | Brother's son |
| Sister's daughter | Sister's son |
The Children Act 1975 added the following prohibitions:
| Adoptive mother or former adoptive mother | Adoptive father or former adoptive father |
| Adoptive daughter or former adoptive daughter | Adoptive son or former adoptive son |
The Marriage Act 1949 also prohibited marriage to the following, but these provisions were repealed by the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 [3]:
| Wife's mother | Husband's father |
| Wife's daughter | Husband's son |
| Father's wife | Mother's husband |
| Son's wife | Daughter's husband |
| Father's father's wife | Father's mother's husband |
| Mother's father's wife | Mother's mother's husband |
| Wife's father's mother | Husband's father's father |
| Wife's mother's mother | Husband's mother's father |
| Wife's son's daughter | Husband's son's son |
| Wife's daughter's daughter | Husband's daughter's son |
| Son's son's wife | Son's daughter's husband |
| Daughter's son's wife | Daughter's daughter's husband |
The Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 prohibits a marriage to the following, until both parties are aged 21 or over, and provided that the younger party has not at any time before attaining the age of 18 been a child of the family in relation to the other party:
| Daughter of former wife | Son of former husband |
| Former wife of father | Former husband of mother |
| Former wife of father’s father | Former husband of father’s mother |
| Former wife of mother’s father | Former husband of mother’s mother |
| Daughter of son of former wife | Son of son of former husband |
| Daughter of daughter of former wife | Son of daughter of former husband |
The Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 also prohibits a marriage to the following:
| Mother of former wife, until the death of both the former wife and the father of the former wife | Father of former husband, until after the death of both the former husband and the mother of the former husband |
| Former wife of son, until after the death of both his son and the mother of his son | Former husband of daughter, until after the death of both her daughter and the father of her daughter |
Statutes in the U.S. state of Georgia disqualify a juror if that person is related "by consanguinity or affinity" to any party "within the sixth degree as computed according to the civil law".[4].
Virginia rulings in Jaques v. Commonwealth, 51 Va. (10 Gratt.) 690 (1853), stated the long-standing, common-law rule disqualifying a venireman who is related, within the ninth degree of consanguinity or affinity, to a party to a suit.[5]