Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

Even my mother would not claim that I was a family lawyer. Therefore, what I am about to say will be subject to correction. As I understand it, duress is a concept used in relation to annulment and there are difficulties about it which may or may not be dealt with as a matter of law reform in a wider context than this Bill. The concept of duress is not appropriate as the sole concept. In my original Bill, I defined ““force”” and ““forcing”” to include any physical or psychological coercion. I think that the Official Opposition were content with that definition at that time. There is now a better definition in the Bill, one I am not sure the lawyers who were consulted have noticed. Proposed new Section 63A(6) states that, "““‘force’ includes coerce by threats or other psychological means””," which encapsulates the original idea. It is quite different from ““voluntary arranged marriage””, and that is its purpose.