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Marriage Law Amendments Put to Vote Saturday
The high-profile legislation, amendments to China's Marriage Law, will be put to the vote for adoption on Saturday when the new five-day legislative session closes, if there are no further disputes.
The latest draft amendments, submitted for deliberation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), focus on penalties on the prominent issues of "bigamy", "having a second wife" or keeping a concubine, while leaving adultery and extramarital affairs to the hands of moral judgment.
A previous version of the draft said bigamy and other activities violating the monogamy rule shall be prohibited.
Lawmakers and the public alike contended that the "other activities" mentioned above should be further specified, while others said that those occasions are too complicated to categorize and should be curbed through different means, including laws, Party and government discipline, moral judgment and education.
Gu Angran, vice-chairman of the NPC Law Committee, said that the latest draft singled out one kind of activity to be banned by law -- cohabiting with others outside one's own marriage.
"Those who commit bigamy shall face criminal penalties according to law, and bigamists and those who cohabit with others shall face penalties of civil law and civil compensation if they lead to divorce," Gu said.
Chinese lawmakers and the general public have been debating on the other issues of domestic violence and family property separation upon divorce.
In less than 50 days since the top legislature publicized the draft amendments to Marriage Law to solicit opinions earlier this year, it has received a total of 3,829 letters and calls from the public.
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