Within the legal profession, condonation (or a condonance) is a defence argument sometimes made when an accuser has previously forgiven or chosen to ignore an act about which they are now legally complaining. In some legal jurisdictions, and for certain behaviors, it may prevent the accuser from prevailing. It is most frequently presented during
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
proceedings, though it is also used in other legal contexts.
Condonation is irrelevant to some acts. For example, some jurisdictions prohibit
consensual combat (other than in specially-sanctioned sports, such as
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
). In such a jurisdiction, the people arrested for brawling cannot avoid prosecution by condoning one another's assaults.
Common law
In the
civil law of the
common law legal systems
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, if a creditor states that they
forgive a certain debt, they might be blocked (or
estopped
Estoppel is a judicial device whereby a court may prevent or "estop" a person from making assertions or from going back on their word. The person barred from doing so is said to be "estopped". Estoppel may prevent someone from bringing a particul ...
) from attempting to collect that same debt at a later date. Condonation would not prevent the creditor from collecting any subsequent or other debts, however.
Divorce law
Prior to the advent of
no-fault divorce
No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marria ...
statutes, condonation was frequently asserted as a defense to divorce. Although one spouse may have committed an act that justified the other in obtaining a divorce, the other spouse might be deemed to have forgiven the conduct and thus waived the right to sue for divorce. The most typical way in which condonation occurred is if the wronged spouse, with knowledge of the act, voluntarily engaged in sexual relations with the wrongdoer. Critics of the doctrine contended that it discouraged spouses from attempting reconciliation, as one act of sexual intercourse would deprive the wronged spouse of any relief if the spouses were unable to resolve their differences.
Military law
The principle of condonation in military law is traced back to the "Memorandum on Corporal Punishment" issued by the
Duke of Wellington
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
on 4 March 1832:
See also
*
Allonge
*
Collegatary
*
Contorts
Contorts (arguably) is a portmanteau, or a combination of "contracts" and "torts" originated by Grant Gilmore in his book '' The Death of Contract''. The generally informal termLegal disputes are not formally or officially referred to as "founde ...
References
Common law legal terminology
United Kingdom military law
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