Clause 1
Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [Lords]
12:00 pm
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
I was going to say that the proposal reflects part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996, but everyone else has said that, so I need not do so. As the hon. Member for Solihull rightly said, the proposition has worked very well in that legislation, and it is important that it is included in the Bill for consistency.
I shall explain why no time limit is specified. Sadly, in many cases, the victim is only 11 or 12 years old, so an order lasting for 10 years might not give them sufficient protection to ensure that they are not later forced into a marriage. A longer period is therefore needed to protect the victim adequately. This part of the Bill will also give the court the flexibility to deal with the particular circumstances of each case and it can vary or discharge the order if the circumstances change. An application to change the order can always be made to the court.
The Committee should remember that, in many of these situations, the breach of honour that is attached to a marriage that is forced upon someone remains for life, so to limit the protection would not protect the individual for a sufficient time. For those reasons, no time limit is specified, although the court can vary or discharge the order, if appropriate, after a period of time if it is satisfied that the victim needs no further protection.