Equal protection from assault for children – Briefing for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The Children’s Commissioner wants England to be the best place for children to grow up. Every child should be safe, healthy and happy – and not live in fear. However currently in England, children are the only people who are not fully protected in law from assault and battery. The ‘reasonable punishment’ defence in common law and the Children Act 2004 means that if a parent or carer commits assault against their child, they may be able to argue that it was legitimate and lawful.

What constitutes ‘reasonable punishment’ is not defined in legislation. While the most serious cases of violence and abuse against children would still be a criminal offence, this defence to a charge of assault creates problematic shades of grey within the law. It leaves parents, carers, professionals – and children themselves, uncertain about what level of violence is acceptable.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which the UK has ratified, is clear that all physical punishment violates children’s right to protection from violence.

It is a view shared by the Children’s Commissioner that no degree of violence against children is acceptable, and the government must act urgently to remove this legal loophole, and guarantee equal protection from assault for children.

The Children’s Commissioner is calling for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to remove the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ in England in common law and the Children Act 2004.