§ 3.12 p.m.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what justification there is for legalising sexual intercourse between a girl of 14 and an adult male, since this is contrary to the laws of this country.]
1322§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD GARDINER)My Lords, I understand that my noble friend has in mind a case reported in The Times on March 28, in which the Divisional Court held that a Nigerian girl aged 14, married under Nigerian law to a Nigerian, was not exposed to moral danger within Section 2 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963. It is not correct to say, as the Question does, that intercourse between a girl of 14 and an adult male is contrary to the laws of this country. It is so only if the intercourse is unlawful, and it has been held in a previous case that "unlawful" means outside the bonds of marriage.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, while thanking the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for that Answer, may I ask him to recall the history of this particular case? A man of 28 arrived in this country with a girl of 13 after a tribal polygamous marriage. Is my noble and learned friend aware that the man had three illegitimate children in Nigeria; that after the marriage he contracted venereal disease from a prostitute, and that he had intercourse with the girl before she had reached puberty? Is he further aware that, because of this, the girl was taken into care and that she did not reach puberty until a short while ago, while still in care? With this history, does my noble and learned friend think that it is wise to allow this girl to resume cohabitation, in view of the fact that in this country be believe that girls of this age should be protected and because this would be, in my opinion., discrimination on grounds of race?
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lord, girls reach the age of puberty at different times in different countries. We decide on the validity of a marriage not according to whether we approve or disapprove of the marriage laws of other countries, but according to the law of the place where the parties are domiciled. These two were Nigerians, who married in Nigeria, and the Court has held that their marriage was a valid marriage. Great difficulties would arise, I suggest, if it were made a criminal offence for a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, am I to understand from what the noble and learned Lord has said that, as we are recognising Nigerian law in this country, if a divorce were instituted on polygamous grounds we should also recognise that?
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, there are, of course, countries in which a polygamous marriage is a valid marriage, and where that is so we recognise it as a valid marriage here.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, is the corollary that we should also recognise polygamous divorce? Do we recognise that?
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, the law of divorce is different from the law of marriage.
§ BARONESS EMMET OF AMBERLEYMy Lords, would it not be wise for us to convey to countries such as Nigeria, through our High Commissioners, that the law of this country allows marriage only above a certain age, and that it is therefore undesirable that people should come here with wives who are under that age? It might be a useful condition to make before their arrival here.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I think this would be difficult. We do not allow girls to be married under the age of 16. The age varies in different countries. The most respectable Italian girl can validly marry an Italian in Italy at the age of 15. If they came here as tourists I think it would be regrettable if the man had to be prosecuted every time he had intercourse with his wife.
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, was not the mother of Henry VII only 14 when he was born?
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, that was before my time.
§ LORD GRIDLEYMy Lords, would not the noble and learned Lord agree that if we accept immigrants to this country, and they are married according to the laws, customs and religions of the nationals of that country, we must, in the interests of racial harmony, accept those conditions over here.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I think our present law, which lays down that whether we recognise a 1324 marriage as valid or not depends on the law of the domicile, is really the only practicable one.