INCEST: Murder of the Soul: Chapter Four the society by commencing action without receiving any complaint. Temporary Law No. (12) of 2010, which is enforced in Jordan, defined incest in articles (285, 286) as “crime of adultery between ancestors and descendants whether they are legitimate or not, brothers and sisters, siblings of half blood or relatives by marriage of their same degree of relationship or persons with actual or legal authority over the victim”. The law distinguishes between perpetrators of incest on the basis of the degree of relationship they have with the person subject to their control. Incest is considered a criminal felony punishable by not less than (7) years of hard labor when committed by persons of blood relationship and (5) years when by persons of trust. It also is considered to have commenced of a criminal action in this regard upon the filing of a complaint by a relative with up to a fourth degree of blood tie to the offender. Jordanian Penal Code No. (16) of 1960, which is still in force in the West Bank, includes incest under Article (285) in the second section on family crimes under the title of “Penalties of Incest”. It considers incest as “adultery between ancestors and descendants whether they are legitimate or not, brothers and sisters, siblings of half blood or relatives by marriage of similar degree or between two offender, either one in the trust of the other”. Law No. (74) of 1936, which remains in force in Gaza Strip, is different from the above mentioned laws. It includes incest under Chapter (XVII), covering crimes of misconduct. Article No. (155) of this law states that “whoever commits illegitimate sexual intercourse with unmarried girl of his descendants or his wife’s descendants or in his trust, aged over (16-21) years, or abetted by another person to commit illegitimate intercourse with her, he shall be deemed perpetrator of a felony punishable by (5) years in prison”. The difference between the content of the two aforesaid articles which currently remain in effect is clearly noticeable. Article (155) of Law No. (74) of 1936, which is in effect in the Gaza Strip, considers incest as illegitimate sexual intercourse committed by a man with an unmarried girl of his descendants or his wife’s descendants or under his trust. It also stipulated that the girl should be aged over (16) years and less than (21) years while Article (285) hasn’t identified this act and merely stated the component elements of it. The Palestinian Draft Penal Code of 2011, which was drafted by a national commission under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, followed the approach of the law affected in the West Bank. It considers incest as a relationship between two parties on equal footing, but distinguishes itself from what is currently in effect by emphasizing that the act of incest is a felony, and distinguishes between the offenders with respect to punishment, which depends on the type of relationship or relatedness there is between them. Article No. (442) of the draft law states that “the incest act which occurs between ancestors and descendants whether they are legitimate or illegitimate, brothers and sisters, siblings of half blood or between relatives by marriage shall be punishable by an imprisonment term of not less than (5) years, while if it is committed by two parties with an actual or legal relationship, it shall be punishable by an imprisonment term of not less than (7) years”. The study of the aforesaid legal provisions regulating incest shows the following: 1. With regard to criminalization of the act of incest, it is criminalized in the majority 29