Article 23

Measures against forced marriages

212. In 1998 the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs developed an Action Plan to Combat Forced Marriages (1998-2001) aimed at preventing forced marriages and assisting young people who are under threat of or subjected to such marriages. Information material was distributed targeting young people, parents and the authorities. The intention was to promote communication and mediation between children and parents, provide assistance in the form of emergency housing in particularly acute situations, and foster dialogue and co-operation with various ethnic groups.

213. In 2002, the plan was updated to include 30 new measures. The principal measures consist of assistance to young people in crisis, legislative amendments to prevent forced marriages and marriage agreements involving children, and training of welfare service personnel in their work against forced marriages.

214. As a result of the Action Plan several legislative amendments have been passed:

• In July 2003 the Penal Code was amended to include a provision on forced marriage. The penalty for causing a forced marriage is imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years (section 222).
• In December 2003 the Children Act was amended to “underscore that parents or others are not permitted to enter into binding marriage agreements on behalf of their children”.
• In line with amendments made in 2003 to the Marriage Act of 4 July 1991 No 47, county governors have been empowered (as of March 2004) to instigate legal proceedings to determine whether or not a marriage is valid, so as to be able to react with legal means in possible cases of forced marriage. Furthermore, the National Population Register will (as from autumn 2004) undertake a review of the criteria for a valid marriage. The aim of a compulsory public review of marriage criteria is to gain better control and achieve a more uniform processing of such cases. In consequence, weddings performed in Norway without prior review by the National Population Register will be invalid.