Following the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill, the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 is expected to be effective from 27 February 2023.
Currently, those children who are 16 and 17 years of age are allowed to marry or enter into a civil partnership if they had parental consent. The concern has been that such parental consent has sometimes been forcing their children into marriage. Thereby the implementation of this Act will offer protection that is required.
Once the Act takes effect, it will make it a criminal offence for children aged 16-17 to marry or enter into a civil partnership. It carries a sentence of up to 7 years in prison and a fine against the parents. It will also make it a criminal offence for an individual to act with the intention of forcing a child to marry or enter a civil partnership before the age of 18.
This is a welcomed change in the law, as there has long been concerns that the ability to marry at 16 and 17 with parental consent has been exploited and used as a way to coerce vulnerable adolescents into child marriages.
Further, the new law contained in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 will remove the need to prove that coercion was used, therefore offering better protection for adolescents. The current law only considers forced marriage to be a criminal offence where the marriage has been made by the use of coercion, whether that be by threatening behaviour or where a person lacks capacity to consent to the marriage.
It is hoped that the implementation of this Act will go some way to allowing vulnerable children to be children and choose their own future.
If you or someone you know is worried about being forced into a marriage, there are orders within the Family Court that can offer protection and these are known as Forced Marriage Protection Orders. To book a free consultation (either over the phone or at one of our offices) please call 08000 147720 or send us an email to book a free information session at any of our offices. We also offer early morning and late evening appointments across our offices.We are here to help.