The Independent Commission for Human Rights The limitations of this definition of the physical element of the crime of incest as the occurrence of full sexual intercourse between persons of blood relationship is a legislative failure of the extant laws as well as the legal and legislative mentality which produced this definition. It lacks consideration of other sexual activities which may be practiced by the involved persons, resulting in the same adverse impact on the basis of which this physical element was identified as an element of incest criminalization. Blood Relationship Blood relationship and the role it plays in human, social and legal relations is the core of all study and research concerned with the history and foundations of society. With the civil legislator interested in regulating the elements, type, rights, obligations and impacts of blood relationship, the criminal legislator plays a sensitive role in protecting blood relationships in regard to criminalization and punishment, thus contributing to settling serious problems which threaten its safety and stability. Relationships are usually based on the person at the center of a certain family, a member strongly connected with the rest of its members by blood relation or marriage relation. He could also be connected with members of other families by marriage. Some scholars defined blood relationship as a relationship established between a group of persons on the basis of blood unity or a marriage contract between two persons40. So blood relationships can result from the descent of a group of persons from the same ancestry, in which case it is called “blood relationship” or it may result from a marriage between two persons, where the relatives of the spouses become relatives to one another, in which case it is called a “marriage relationship”41. Marriage relationships are considered to be a special relation connecting spouses physically and spiritually. It is the basis of the family and often stronger than blood relationships, but it is different from affinity, although affinity does arise from it42. Affinity is a legal personal relationship arising between the relatives of the spouses without exceeding the boundaries set by the law. So the father and the mother of the spouse become relatives by affinity to the other spouse. The same rule applies to all the relatives of the spouses and to the son or daughter of either spouse from a previous marriage and to the descendents of both of them. The brother or sister of either spouse is also considered to be a relative by affinity. When the legislator becomes involved in a case of criminalization regarding the protection of a blood relationship or marriage relationship, then as part of being in a system regulating civil and personal affairs within the law, he considers the nature of the act and not the capacity of the offender. This means that he considers the acts that cause harm to the blood relationship system or the obligations of the individuals, so he directly and expressly intervenes to criminalize these acts and impose punishment on their perpetrators as a threat to them to not commit them lest they face punishment. 40 Rukab 2012, “Protection of Blood Relationships under the Iraqi Penal Code”, Thi-Kar Magazine, Edition 4, Volume 5,. 41 Rukab 2012 , “Protection of Blood Relationships under the Iraqi Penal Code”, Thi-Kar Magazine, Edition 4, Volume 5. 42 Rukab 2012, “Protection of Blood Relationships under the Iraqi Penal Code”, Thi-Kar Magazine, Edition 4, Volume 5. 32