Marriage and Religious Weddings Debate

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Department: Scotland Office

Marriage and Religious Weddings

Lord Dholakia Excerpts
Tuesday 30th June 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Keen of Elie Portrait Lord Keen of Elie
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The major obstacle is the fundamental difference between the law of marriage in Scotland and that in England. The law of marriage in England and Wales, as determined since Lord Hardwicke’s Act, depends upon the place of celebration as well as the celebrant. That is not the position in Scotland, where it is not necessary to identify the location for the marriage ceremony.

Lord Dholakia Portrait Lord Dholakia (LD) [V]
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My Lords, is there any evidence of girls being married before reaching the legal age at which marriage is permissible, particularly during the Covid emergency of recent times, and is the situation regularly monitored here and abroad to ensure that this does not happen to girls settled in the United Kingdom?