On 3rd August the Rt Revd Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, received a written answer to a question from Lord Keen of Elie on prosecutions in relation to forced marriages.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: HL7247 To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions were initiated in relation to forced marriage in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, (3) 2016, (4) 2017, (5) 2018, and (5) 2019; and how many such prosecutions were successful in each year.
Lord Keen of Elie: From 2014 to date, CPS data for the number of cases prosecuted and the outcomes is:
| 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | |
| Convictions | 29 | 32 | 32 | 37 | 7 | 6 |
| Non-Convictions | 17 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 2 |
| Total | 46 | 53 | 44 | 50 | 12 | 8 |
Between 2014 – 15 and 2017 – 18, this data included cases that included the forced marriage flag on the CPS’s case management system as well as cases charged as forced marriage. In 2018 – 19, the CPS conducted quality assurance checks on the guidance for applying the forced marriage flag. The data for that year does not include flagged cases but only cases charged as a forced marriage offence. The most recent data (2019 – 20) includes flagged cases but reflects the updated guidance on applying the flag which has resulted in improved accuracy.
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