The Report is the product of a three year research project, funded by the Scottish Government – Inspiring Scotland – Delivering Equally Safe, and examining the protection afforded in Scots law to individuals who are at risk of forced marriage.

Legislation on forced marriage was introduced into Scots law in 2011. The Forced Marriage etc. (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act 2011 came into force, in its entirety, on 28 November 2011, making provision to protect persons from being forced into marriage without their free and full consent, and to protect persons who have been forced into marriage without such consent. Further legislation to extend protection to those at risk of forced marriage was introduced throughout the UK in 2014. Section 122 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, a provision applying specifically and exclusively to Scotland, came into force on 30 September 2014, creating the criminal offence of forced marriage under Scots law.

Since the introduction of these legislative measures into Scots law, there has been no legal analysis of forced marriage protection orders, nor of the criminalisation of forced marriage. Since the civil remedy introduced by the 2011 Act (a ‘forced marriage protection order’) takes the form of a court order, and given that the criminalisation of forced marriage involves the criminal justice process, legal research was necessary to ascertain the extent of awareness of available remedies among legal practitioners, and to identify possible accessibility and operational issues with regard to these remedies.

The research project investigated, from a legal perspective, the operation and impact of the current legal framework in respect of forced marriage, and assessed the availability, accessibility and effectiveness of legal remedies in respect of, and sanctions against, forced marriage. The aim was to seek to understand how effectively the forced marriage legislation is working in practice, and to ascertain if the introduction of a new civil remedy and the criminalisation of forced marriage have improved matters for victims of forced marriage, with a view, where necessary or appropriate, to strengthening victim protection and informing legal education and training in combatting forced marriage and, ultimately, helping to eradicate the practice of forced marriage from Scotland.

The research comprised five workstreams: a review of forced marriage legislation in Scotland; a review of forced marriage case law in Scotland; Freedom of Information requests to relevant Scottish public authorities; an online survey of legal professionals to gather information about their knowledge and experience of forced marriage law in practice, and to obtain their views on its strengths and weaknesses, and on potential areas for reform; and semi-structured interviews with a range of key parties in the family law justice system, to explore their lived experience of navigating forced marriage law, legal process and practice.

The Report distils key findings, based on the case digest, the Freedom of Information requests and recorded statistics, and the views and experiences of the professionals who participated in the project, and sets out 14 recommendations that the researchers consider are apt to address the issues identified.

Download the Combatting Forced Marriage: Strengthening Protection in Scots Law Report

First published: 31 July 2024

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