The Crime of Indecent Acts: a Comparative Study Between Islamic Jurisprudence and the Algerian Penal Code

Abstract

Bashfulness is a virtuous human quality. The meaning of this concept differs from one nation to another, from one people to another and from one tribe to another according to religion, customs and traditions. Also, the criteria of an era play an important role in the evolution of the meaning of this concept. Because over time, the social aspect of human life changes and becomes more and more subject to new legislative laws far from the laws of religion and ethics.Among the concepts having a relation with morality: the blasphemous act which has degrees of gravity; some of these acts are not incriminated, although they affect manners and decency. Other acts affect the honor and reputation of others. In this case, the laws interfere in order to incriminate these acts.But the law of the Islamic religion, which does not change according to time or place, prohibited certain behaviors, and considered them as dishonorable thus deserving non-punitive sanctions determined by the governor or the Imam.In the Penal Code, the Algerian legislator, in its conception of an act of indecency, follows the doctrine of Islamic sharia. The penal code and the Islamic Sharia also agree on the seriousness of the sentences for this crime so as to ensure both individual and general deterrence.