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Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

I hope that the Minister will permit me to answer the noble Lord’s first question, if that is not inappropriate. I totally support the Bill and say, without any disrespect to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that it is greatly improved. I am absolutely delighted that the provision will be inserted afterPart 4 of the Family Law Act, which is where it should be, and embedded in English law. That sends out a very valuable message. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Plant, that, as I understand it, the person who has been forcibly married remains married until a court decrees that that person is no longer married. Therefore, I expect that there would be a petition for nullity based on the lack of consent. I can say from my previous incarnation that those petitions are very sympathetically considered. I very much hope that it will be possible for such hearings to be held in private, which has certainly happened from time to time. As I understand it, this Bill will not deal with the annulling of a marriage, but of course its provisions would constitute a very strong movement in that direction. A person, particularly a girl, who says, ““I should never have been married in the first place and I have an injunction from the county court””, has strong grounds for having her marriage annulled as soon as possible. I hope that the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Lester, will forgive me if I have to leave to carry out other duties but I wanted to come today to support this amended Bill.