Punishment curbs on Scottish parents

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 entitled Children, Physical Punishment and the Law, which it is distributing to parents through day nurseries, health centres and libraries. The guide says that smacking is 'not completely prohibited' but stresses that it is 'not advisable as a method of disciplining children' because it can be dangerous, sets children the wrong example, affects children long after the physical pain has gone, and is not an effective way to teach discipline.