INCEST: Murder of the Soul: Chapter Four coherent state of mind49. b. How the will is expressed constitutes consent of the victim; the expression of the will can be expressed or implied, either in writing or orally. It is considered expressed if it is asserted in writing, orally or by gesture; it is implied if it derives from actions and facts from which consent could be inferred. It can sometimes be assumed and can take other forms and conditions50. Legal Eligibility of Consent Conditions are stated in the penal code for taking a victim’s consent into legal consideration: 1. Consent should be given by a person in a coherent state of mind. On one hand, the penal code looks into the eligibility of the offender to be held responsible for his act; on the other hand, it looks into the eligibility of the victim to verify if the ability of that victim to give consent should be taken into consideration by the law. This eligibility cannot be considered available unless the victim has a clear state of mind and is free from the influence of alcohol or drugs51. The issue of defining the age of reason and its connection with the element of consent of the victim raises several problems because it is not fully or inclusively stated in penal codes. Law provisions do not identify the age of reason necessary for giving consent except for certain conditions. In addition, jurisprudence has no consensus about the age of reason of the victim and interpretation hasn’t discussed or examined whether the victim’s consent was legal of a special type or a system by its own. It could be interpreted in this context as a system with special rules when it comes to the authority of the age of reason; in particular, the behavior of the minor are specified by the power of the custodian, and which are in principle subjected to civil and personal affairs rules. Furthermore, when the penal code identifies the age of reason, it identifies it differently from one crime to another. This indicates that each crime has special conditions including the age of the victim and its ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The judge considering the case has the right to issue a justifiable decision with respect to that. For example, the age of reason with regard to rape is (15) years of age in the Syrian penal code under Article (491) thereof.52 The Jordanian penal code in effect in Jordan does not expressly state in Article No, (285) that a woman should be at a certain age in order to be considered an accomplice in the crime of incest. However, due to providing that the element of consent – in order to classify an act of sexual intercourse as a crime of incest - should be available, and due to considering the crime of incest as adultery with a women of blood ties according to jurisprudence, consent is nullified in cases of persons who lack the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. It could be extrapolated that Jordan’s own penal code emphasizes that the age of a woman is an intrinsic and obligatory condition, from Articles (285, 12) of the 49 50 51 52 Al-Saed, Crimes against ethics. Al-Saed, Crimes against ethics, p. 264. Conditions of eligibility or “eligibility of contracting” her research is within the frame of the civil law. The judge sometimes refers to the civil law provisions upon need. 35