Hansard

The committee’s report, for which I thank the convener, is fairly comprehensive. It is unable to evidence a substantial number of cases; however, although the cases that it finds may be few in number, they are undoubtedly large in impact. Clearly, the Government must act in respect of something that is completely disgraceful in modern times. The system that we have at present is more than unwieldy; frankly, it is a toothless tiger and totally ineffectual in dealing with the issue. We cannot leave ourselves open to having no legislation in place in Scotland when such legislation exists south of the border. That would put victims north of the border in a position of extreme disadvantage.

Over the past 30 to 40 years, this country—with the exception of the idiotic minority—has shown a praiseworthy degree of tolerance as many people from different parts of the world have settled here. Indeed, I often reflect on the fact that the degree of tolerance that is shown here to people from overseas is sometimes not reciprocated abroad.

We have a clear duty to do something here and I think that the FMPOs are the way forward, as they are simple and straightforward. There is, however, a major difficulty, which is reflected in the committee’s report, when the offence is technically committed furth of these shores. There is quite clear evidence that many instances of forced marriages have an international dimension. There will have to be a degree of co-operation on the part of the Scottish and United Kingdom authorities to ensure that the appropriate extradition agreements are made.

I flag up a problem over the issue of definition. I tend to agree that the issue of force should be included in the bill. I guide the minister along the route that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice took in relation to the Justice Committee’s report on the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill, and suggest that, in terms of sexual assault, we deal with the definition, which involves not only the question of physical assault but the way in which coercion can be applied. In many instances, we are dealing with physical violence but, in other cases, the coercion is much more subtle, and involves family loyalties or sometimes even tribal loyalties. That must be considered. There must be a protection for someone who might feel, because of those loyalties, misguided though they might be, that they should go down the route of a forced marriage. I commend that approach to the minister.

On balance, I believe that the name of the perpetrator should be included in the order that is applied for, although I recognise the Government’s inhibitions in that respect.

I welcome the fact that the bill contains a provision for third-party applications, because a victim could be in a position of some difficulty if they had to make the application themselves. That is particularly evident if we consider the youth and comparative immaturity of many of the victims.

On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, I say that this is a welcome piece of legislation. A bit of work remains to be done on it but I am sure that, at the end of the day, common sense will prevail, and we will produce a worthwhile piece of legislation.

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