It is true that the study of family relations falls under civil law and family law, but the Moroccan legislator gives paramount importance to the protection of the family unit and the institution of marriage. For this reason, he conferred the treatment of family abandonment to criminal law. Penalties are thereforeprovided for the spousewho voluntarily abandons the matrimonial home if the constituent elements of this act are met. This article aims to elucidate the specificity of the penal treatment of this offense in Moroccan law and to understand the spirit of the legislator as to the parties primarily concerned by the protection.