Forced Marriage Protection Orders

What a Forced Marriage Protection Order Is

Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996 lets the family court or the High Court make an order to protect a person from being forced into a marriage or from any attempt to force them, and to protect a person who has already been forced into a marriage. It sits alongside, and does not replace, the police, a non-molestation order, an occupation order or protection under the Children Act 1989.

A person is forced into a marriage when someone makes them enter it without their free and full consent. Force includes coercion by threats or other psychological means, so emotional pressure and being made to feel you are bringing shame on the family count as well as violence, and financial abuse may also be a factor. It does not matter whether the pressure is aimed at the person, at the one applying it or at someone else. Marriage means any religious or civil ceremony, whether or not it is legally binding.

Forced marriage is a form of domestic abuse and a criminal offence in its own right. Since 27 February 2023 nobody under 18 can marry in England and Wales, and doing anything intended to cause a child under 18 to marry is an offence even where no pressure is used. The wider pattern of family and community pressure is covered on our honour-based abuse page, and any criminal investigation is a matter for the police. If you are in immediate danger call 999. The free National Domestic Abuse Helpline is on 0808 2000 247 at any hour, and the Forced Marriage Unit gives confidential advice on 020 7008 0151 from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with 020 7008 5000 out of hours.

Who Can Apply and What the Order Can Require

There are three ways to apply. The person to be protected can apply. A local authority can apply as a relevant third party without needing permission. Anyone else, such as a relative, friend, teacher or support worker, can apply with the court's permission; the court looks at all the circumstances, including the applicant's connection with the person, their knowledge of the situation and the person's own wishes and feelings. A child under 18 can apply in their own name. The court can also make an order of its own initiative in other family proceedings, where a person who would be a respondent is a party to them.

The order can contain whatever prohibitions, restrictions or requirements, and other terms, the court considers appropriate. Its terms can cover conduct outside England and Wales as well as inside, and can bind not only the people forcing the marriage but anyone who is, or may become, involved in other ways, including by aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring, encouraging or assisting them, or conspiring with them.

An order can be made for a fixed period or until it is varied or discharged. Where a child is at risk of being taken abroad by a parent, a prohibited steps order may also be relevant; where your immigration status depends on the marriage, see settlement after domestic abuse.

The Test the Court Applies

The court decides whether to make an order, and on what terms, having regard to all the circumstances, including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being of the person to be protected. In weighing well-being it must have regard to that person's wishes and feelings, so far as they can reasonably be ascertained, to the extent the court considers appropriate in the light of their age and understanding.

An order can be made without the respondent being told first where the court considers it just and convenient. It weighs any risk of significant harm to the person to be protected or anyone else if the order is not made immediately, whether the applicant is likely to be deterred or prevented from continuing if it is not, and whether the respondent knows of the proceedings but is deliberately evading service, so that delay would cause serious prejudice. The respondent must then be given the chance to make representations at a hearing on notice, as soon as just and convenient. See our pages on without notice applications and emergency injunctions.

Instead of an order, the court can accept an undertaking from the respondent, which is enforceable as if it were an order. It cannot accept one where it appears that the respondent has used or threatened violence against the person to be protected and, for that person's protection, an order is needed so that a breach is a criminal offence. An undertaking is enforced as a contempt of court, so breaking one is not the criminal offence that breaking an order is.

Evidence and Common Problems

The application rests on a witness statement, verified by a statement of truth. It sets out what has happened, the pressure or threats used and by whom, any plans for a ceremony or travel, what you want the court to order and, for a without notice application, why the respondent should not be told first. Messages, travel bookings, evidence that passports are being held and notes from teachers, doctors or social workers all help.

Common problems we see: the person at risk is abroad or about to travel, so the order has to reach conduct outside England and Wales and be made quickly; the statement describes fear without naming the acts behind it; violence is understated, which affects whether an undertaking can be accepted; and the terms asked for are too vague to be enforced.

A forced marriage is not an arranged marriage, where the families take a lead in choosing a partner but both people remain free to refuse. Explaining why consent was not free is often the heart of the statement.

How the Application Process Works

1. We advise on safety first, including whether to involve the police or the Forced Marriage Unit, and on whether an order is the right tool.
2. We draft the application on form FL401A with the witness statement, add form C8 for confidential contact details and, where you are applying for someone else, the permission application on form FL430.
3. We file at the family court. There is no court fee. Where the risk is immediate we ask the court to consider the application without notice; the permission application can also be made without notice.
4. On an application on notice, the application and notice of proceedings are served personally on the respondent, and on the person to be protected if they are not the applicant, at least two days before the hearing, though the court can shorten that. An applicant who is an individual must not serve the papers personally; we arrange a process server.
5. The judge can make the order as asked or in different terms, make an interim order and ask for more evidence, accept an undertaking, or refuse. Where an order was made without notice, the respondent's hearing follows.
6. Within two days of an order, unless the court directs otherwise, the order, the record of the hearing and, for a without notice order, the application and statement are served personally on the respondent, the person to be protected if they are not the applicant, and anyone else named. The court officer emails the police a copy within one day of sealing, and once the respondent has been served or told the terms, the applicant notifies the police within two days.
7. Any party, the person protected and anyone affected by the order can apply on form FL403A to vary, extend or discharge it; the same without notice and undertaking rules apply to a variation.

Doing anything the order prohibits, without reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence carrying up to five years' imprisonment on indictment; for an order made without notice, a person can only be guilty in respect of conduct after they became aware of the order. The person protected, the applicant or, with the judge's permission, anyone else can instead apply for a warrant of arrest, on a sworn statement, to the court that made the order, but the same conduct cannot be punished both as the offence and as contempt of court.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• a ceremony or a trip abroad is planned within days, so the order has to be made without notice and reach conduct outside England and Wales
• the person at risk is a child, is abroad, or is not the one applying, so permission and their wishes and feelings have to be addressed
• several relatives or community figures are involved and the order needs to name everyone, including those assisting or encouraging
• violence has been used or threatened, so an undertaking is not an option and the terms need to be enforceable
• you have been served with an application or an order and want to contest it, offer an undertaking or apply to vary it
• immigration status, a non-molestation order or arrangements for children are bound up with the same facts

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We advise on forced marriage protection orders as part of our domestic abuse and injunctions service at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, near Tower Bridge.

We draft the statement and the terms, make the permission application where one is needed, ask the court to act without notice where the facts justify it, arrange service and the police notification, and represent you at the hearing and at any return hearing. For a respondent who has been served, we advise on the terms, an undertaking and an application to vary. RakLAW Solicitors is privately funded and does not do legal aid work; how we charge for family work is on our fees page.

Call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment for a free 15-minute consultation.