La règle de common law dite d’« incompétence des conjoints » rend les conjoints, qu’ils le veuillent ou non, inhabiles à témoigner l’un contre l’autre dans des poursuites relatives à des événements survenus avant ou pendant le mariage.
A common law rule known as “spousal incompetency” renders a spouse, whether willing or not, incapable of testifying against his or her spouse for the prosecution in relation to events that occurred both before and during the marriage.