England and Wales

Bills

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill is a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Pauline Latham (Conservative). Explanatory Notes have been prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Home Office to explain how this might affect marriages and civil partnerships which take place outside of England and Wales:
The Bill would raise to 18 the minimum age for marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales.
The anticipated effect of this change on the common law will also mean that any marriages which take place overseas, or in Scotland or Northern Ireland, involving under 18s, where one of the parties is domiciled in England and Wales, will not be legally recognised in England and Wales. This change to recognition will also apply to civil partnerships.
The Bill would also expand the existing criminal law on forced marriage to make it illegal for a person to arrange the marriage of a person under the age of 18 in England and Wales. The offence would apply to any religious or civil ceremony of marriage, whether or not it is legally binding. The existing law only applies if a form of coercion is used or if the victim lacks capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

In its Tackling violence against women and girls strategy the Government set out its commitment to “the goal of ending child marriage in this country”. It also acknowledged “the need to signal to other countries that child marriage is something which needs to be tackled”.

England, Wales and Scotland

Legislation

Guidance

England and Wales

1. Bus and Tram Wrapped in the A-Z of Consent is launched in Nottingham as part of the Safer Women at Night (SWaN) funding. Created by the Consent Coalition, a group of organisations working together to raise awareness of consent and reduce sexual violence, the A-Z of Consent features different words relating to consent.  Its aim is to get people talking about sexual consent in a way that engaging and informative. The vehicles will be wrapped in the campaign colours for the next 12 months, with the bus visiting all areas of Nottingham and NET Tram serving many key locations across the city. In addition to this project, they include:

• Development of a Safe Space Pledge in association with Nottingham BID, Nottingham Best Bar None and the Consent Coalition.
• Training for pub, bar and venue workers to enable them to recognise and respond to incidents where women might be experiencing distress or harassment.
• Additional protection through Police Nights of Action on the tram network in the city

1. Regulators urge safe giving to support Ukraine
The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator have urged the public to ‘give safely’ to registered charities helping and supporting those affected by the invasion of Ukraine.
As the conflict and ensuing humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to escalate, it is vital that charitable donations of goods and money reach their intended causes. UK charities are pivotal to a collective response to this crisis.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of 15 leading UK charities, has launched its collective appeal to provide emergency aid and rapid relief to civilians suffering during the conflict. Many registered charities are also helping to provide vital life-saving services, like water, food and healthcare, to those caught up in the conflict, including those forced to flee to neighbouring countries.
By giving to a registered, regulated charity, the public can have assurance that their funds will be accounted for in line with the charity law framework. Established charities with experience of responding to disasters are usually best placed to reach victims on the ground.
Members of the public initiating their own informal fundraising appeals that are not linked to established registered charities should be aware of the ongoing responsibilities associated with overseeing and managing funds and ensuring they are applied in line with donors’ wishes.

• Provide online anonymity– VPNs work by encrypting your online activity, thus preventing the user’s activity and location from being tracked. Some VPNs can also allow users to set their online location, which can make worldwide content previously unavailable, now accessible. This can include accessing films and other types of media from around the world.
• Cyber-security and data protection – As online activity is encrypted, VPNs can support against cyber-attacks and security threats such as Malware. A lot of businesses will use them to help keep their data and sensitive information more secure.
• Can bypass other security filters – As online activity is hidden from the established internet service provider; it can mean that other security filters such as parental controls you may have already set up for the household are bypassed in the process.
• Potential for more harmful content – As security features are potentially being bypassed from the internet service provider, it means that there is more potential for harmful content to be exposed to members of the family. Some VPNs can allow you to list certain websites where the VPN will become inactive but this usually requires manually inputting sites.
• Lots of options – There are many options available for VPNs. They can often range in price and there is often differences in what features they provide. It is important to always research the trustworthiness and quality of a VPN before it is brought and active within a household.

1. 450 people have been arrested in the UK after they were identified as members of an online platform used for trading child sexual abuse material.
The material was some of the most ‘horrific and devastating’ investigators had seen. It included a particularly disturbing and sadistic video series, which showed the torture, rape and sexual abuse of three kidnapped young girls, one of whom was an 18 month old toddler.

2. Four people who stole more than £145,000 from a vulnerable relative have been sentenced.
Scott Billington, Janet Billington, Kieth Billington and Vicky Bailey all appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 11 March where they were sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison.

3. A Lancashire man has been jailed for repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting two young children.
Nigel Turner, 72, from Morecambe, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in November 2021, after he distributed multiple indecent images of the children (IIOC) via an online messaging app.

Under the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 all types of physical punishment, such as smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, are illegal. The new law applies to everybody in Wales, including visitors.
Wales joins more than 60 nations across the world to end the physical punishment of children. This landmark legislation removes the archaic 160-year-old legal defence and provides children the same protection from assault as adults.