The Crime of Financial Abandonment of the Family in Libyan and Comparative Criminal Law

Abstract

Both Libyan, Egyptian, and French legislation has focused on providing necessary criminal protection for the family by criminalizing the act of physical abandonment. Given the nature of our work in the judiciary, we have noticed the frequency with which wives appear in court and file complaints against their husbands for mistreatment and failure to provide financial support. The real problem with this issue lies in the fact that these acts may not appear in accurate statistics due to the specific nature of the place where they are committed and its influence by the culture of the society, or due to the wife's or children's fear of the consequences of reporting them. This apprehension becomes apparent in practice when criminal penalties are imposed on those obligated to provide financial support, which often leads to family disintegration because social norms inherently reject such a path. This necessitates a review of these criminal provisions to achieve optimal protection for the family.