France officially abolishes the concept of marital duty

The amendment was adopted by the French National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) on January 19.

Under the new wording, the first paragraph of Article 215 of the French Civil Code is supplemented with the following provision: the shared life of spouses does not create any obligation to have sexual relations. The law thus explicitly establishes the absence of any legal obligation of sexual intimacy within marriage.

The explanatory memorandum to the amendment notes that previous French judicial practice had inferred an obligation of sexual relations from the notion of “community of life”, interpreting it as a “community of bed”. On this basis, refusal to engage in intimate relations could be considered by courts as a civil fault on the part of one of the spouses.

The authors of the initiative emphasized that the initially proposed changes to Article 212 of the Civil Code were legally ambiguous. In particular, the concept of consent has multiple legal meanings, while the duty of mutual respect between spouses already includes respect for sexual consent.

The adopted wording removes these inconsistencies and explicitly states that refusal to have sexual relations cannot be regarded as a civil offense. Accordingly, civil liability of a spouse on these grounds is excluded.

The amendment also aligns French law with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights dated January 23, 2025, which found the concept of marital duty to be contrary to sexual freedom and the right of individuals to dispose of their own bodies.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that two former employees had filed a complaint with Spain’s National Court accusing singer Julio Iglesias of sexual assault and human trafficking.