A specialist government initiative to tackle forced marriages helped up to 250 children in 2012, the BBC reports. The Forced Marriage Unit, which is jointly operated by the Foreign Office and Home Office, reported dealing with a total of 1,485 cases. The youngest case involved a two-year-old. Of the children, 82 per cent were female. Civil courts have the power to issue Forced Marriage Protection orders to prevent weddings from taking place.
The appeal system for parents who fail to get their children into academies or faith schools in England may not operate fairly, according to a legal watchdog. A letter sent from the chairman of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) to Education Secretary Michael Gove raised concerns that some appeals for schools outside local authority control lacked independence and transparency. According to the BBC, Richard Thomas called for Gove to "identify an organisation that is well placed to provide an independent appeals service".
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