Forced marriage in Scotland

The Scottish Parliament has recently voted to make forced marriage a criminal offence in Scotland by passing a Legislative Consent Motion (LCM) that adopts planned UK-wide legislation.

Some protection against forced marriage is already available in Scotland through Forced Marriage Protection Orders, which can be issued by the civil courts. Breach of these Orders is a criminal offence that can lead to a two year custodial sentence, a fine, or both.

The UK-wide plans build on this existing legislation, making it a specific criminal offence to force someone into marriage.

Minister for Equalities Shona Robison acknowledged that using the LCM to criminalise forced marriage has been controversial, but she believed it was necessary to make Scotland compliant with the Istanbul Convention which the UK Government signed up to.

“Article 37 of that Convention requires forced marriage to be a criminal offence,” she explained. “It is our view that existing criminal offences in Scotland are not adequate to meet the requirements of Article 37, and I note that this view was backed up by the Justice Committee.”

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