Claire Sanders reports on the sensitivities of disclosure in forced marriage cases
Two recent cases concerning forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs), both heard by Sir Nicholas Wall, the president of the Family Division, highlight some of the difficulties faced by the courts and the parties in forced marriage or “honour” based violence cases.
Under the Forced Marriage Protection (Civil Protection) Act 2007 (FM(CO)A 2007) circumstances may arise in which the disclosure of sensitive information is likely to lead to the risk of serious harm to the giver or source of the information.
Issues arise as to how the court can achieve a fair hearing that complies with the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention), Art 6 if parts of the evidence necessary for parties to know in order to enable them to meet allegations made against them cannot safely be revealed to them on the ground that disclosure of the information or its source is likely to identify the informant and thus place them at risk.
The issue of disclosure may be particularly acute if the informant is another member of the family,
