News by email Donate

Suggestions

nature-main_article_image.jpg
UK News

Church of Scotland supports smacking ban legislation

by Eno Adeogun

The Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Bill was introduced by Scottish Green MSP John Finnie and is under consideration at the Scottish Parliament.

The Church of Scotland and a number of organisations across Scotland have vocalised their approval of the Bill.

 

It would create a law to abolish the defence of reasonable chastisement of a child.

Under current legislation, a person can claim that the physical punishment of a child is justifiable as a parental right or as a right of having charge or care of the child.

However, the court does also consider a number of factors such as the nature of the action and duration.

The Church of Scotland, the Scottish Youth Parliament, Social Work Scotland, Law Society of Scotland and a number of other organisations wrote submissions to Holyrood's Equality and Human Rights Committee on Wednesday.

Expressing their support for the Bill, The Church of Scotland, in its submission, wrote: "The Church believes that the resort to violence should cease to be acceptable as our society comes to understand its negative impact."

There has, however, been criticism of the proposals.

Police in Scotland suggested in their submission to the committee that the legislation could result in increased costs to the force as officers spend time probing allegations against parents.

Campaign group Be Reasonable Scotland - backed by The Christian Institute and The Family Education Trust - argue a ban will "criminalise parents".

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

Tell us what you think about our news service, what you want and how Premier fits into your news landscape. Take our quick survey!

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate