Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 is an act of the United Kingdom parliament seeking to assist victims of forced marriage, or those threatened with forced marriage, by providing civil remedies. It extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland -- it does not extend to Scotland, as this is a devolved competence.
The centrepiece of the Act is the forced marriage order. A person threatened with forced marriage can apply to court for a forced marriage order can contain whatever provisions which the court finds would be appropriate to prevent the forced marriage from taking place, or to protect a victim of forced marriage from its effects, and may include such measures as confiscation of passport or restrictions on contact with the victim. The subject of a forced marriage order can be not just the person to whom the forced marriage will occur, but also any other person who aids, abets or encourages the forced marriage. A marriage can be considered forced not not merely on the grounds of threats of physical violence to the victim, but also through threats of physical violence to third parties (e.g. the victim's family), or even self-violence (e.g. marriage procured through threat of suicide.) A person who violates a force marriage order is subject to contempt of court proceedings and may be arrested.
It was introduced as a private members bill into the House of Lords by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on the 16th November 2006. It was passed by the House of Lords on 13th June 2007, passed by the House of Commons on the 17th July 2007, and received royal assent on 26th July 2007. Unusually, although this was a private members bill, almost the entire contents of the bill was replaced by Government amendments in the Grand Committee, with the support of Lord Lester.
