Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the debate. I add my thanks to Sapnara Khatun. Obviously, we should not acknowledge people who are visiting us in the Chamber but, at the same time, it is great to watch someone squirm with embarrassment. I agree with the remarks about the judiciary and the support that it has given. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Russell-Johnston, that here the noble Lord, Lord Lester, has not followed the Government but the Government have followed him. I approached this matter by being open-minded about which way we should go. The advantage of this Bill was brought home to me in the consultations that I undertook with those involved in the judiciary, with legal practitioners, with voluntary organisations and, perhaps most importantly, with the victims themselves. The Bill provides us with three special and important things. First, having within the Family Law Act the idea that forced marriage is wrong may help us with the most important thing of all, which is to deter people from doing it: it is an offence; it is not allowed; and it should not be practised. That will be significant in preventing people from even thinking that somehow this practice may be acceptable in our society. The second benefit of the Bill is that such cases will take place in the family courts, which means that discussions can be held in private. That will enable what we and many of the victims want to see brought about: forms of reconciliation with their families. The judge will be able to explain what cannot and will not be allowed, and that will happen not by being broadcast within a community but quietly and privately. At the same time, as the noble and learned Baroness said, the offence will carry the full weight of the law behind it and, of course, if a criminal offence is committed, the criminal law will be brought in. When I talked to the people whom I had the privilege of consulting, it became clear to me that the outcome of the Home Office consultation on whether we should introduce this as a criminal offence was correct. It was clear that that would not command support and, perhaps more importantly, going back to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, it would not be used and therefore would not have the value that we would wish to see it have. We hope that this measure will provide great benefit and we will monitor the situation. I hope that the noble Lord will feel reassured by that. I know that he has taken a great interest in this issue for many years and I pay tribute to him for that. I hope that, in strengthening the legislation, the amendments will be acceptable. On Question, amendment agreed to.