Clause 1
Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [Lords]
11:45 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman makes a valid and important point. We want to get the balance right. The thrust of the Bill rests on the initial deterrent factor, which will make a big difference.
My hon. Friend the Member for Keighley will return to the fact that those who have the power to do something, whether social workers or the police, and those who have the power to influence, whether community groups or churches, must get the message through that serious action will be taken first in the civil courts and that criminal proceedings might act as a deterrent. The hon. Gentleman’s valid argument is that we do not want to undermine the Bill by making people frightened to come forward, because of criminal prosecutions that could result down the line.
I understand that the CPS is training specialist prosecutors to handle both forced marriage cases and honour crime cases, so I hope that the prosecutors will gain a proper understanding of when it is appropriate to take up such cases effectively.