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.
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.