FEATURED THIS WEEK
Charge and sit tight?
Forced marriage protection
Chambers make comeback
Into force
Forced marriage protection orders arrived in England and Wales on 25 November 2008 as the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 was brought into force by commencement order (SI 2008/2779). It extends the scope of the Family Law Act 1996 to offer the order for the purposes of protecting anyone who might be or has already been forced into marriage.
The majority of cases of forced marriage reported in the UK involve South Asian families. In the first half of this year, 887 incidents were reported to the Forced Marriage Unit (part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). The legislation does not criminalise forced marriage but it may prevent it.
Will the victim have the strength, will or opportunity to seek an order? Maybe not and so there is provision for applications without leave by a relevant third party as designated by the lord chancellor—and his intention is to so designate all local authorities once they are sufficiently prepared—and
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