Physical force no longer permitted

Section 51 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, which became law on 27 October, has made it illegal for parents to punish children by shaking them, hitting them on the head, using a belt, cane, slipper, wooden spoon or other implement.

The legislation followed a consultation in 2000 that covered areas including whether parents should be allowed to use reasonable physical punishment and what factors the law should require the courts to consider when determining 'reasonable chastisement' - a legal defence introduced in 1860. However, the changes in the law fall short of an outright ban on smacking.

The Scottish Executive has acknowledged this in its guide for parents, Children, Physical Punishment and the Law, that it is distributing to parents through day nurseries, health centres and libraries. The guide said that smacking was 'not completely prohibited' but stressed that it was 'not advisable as a method of disciplining children' because it can be dangerous, affects children long after the physical pain has gone, and is not an effective way to teach discipline.