Forced Marriage
House of Lords

Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Liberal Democrat)

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will conduct a further review of the operation of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 by the end of this calendar year, and publish the results.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the Forced Marriage Designated Resource Manual.

Lord McNally (Minister of State, Justice; Liberal Democrat)

The Government are currently considering all the recommendations of the recently published House of Commons Home Affairs Committee report on forced marriage and will publish their response in due course.

A review of the initial impact of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act was carried out in 2009. Officials met with, or received written comments from, over 70 people. The findings of the review were published that year in the policy paper One Year On: The Initial Impact of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 in its First Year of Operation.

The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 Designated Courts Resource Manual was published on the HMCTS intranet in July 2010. The guidance is intended as a resource manual for court staff, especially those at the 15 designated county courts and the High Court who handle applications for Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPO).

Since the guidance included reference to in court security measures on the handling of FMPO applications and in house safety measures, it was not published externally as this might pose a risk to victims and court staff if such information reached respondents, many of whom go to great lengths to locate the applicants.