Section 59

Explanatory note on the bill:

… Presently, section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961 acts as a justification, excuse or defence for parents and guardians using force against their children where they are doing so for the purposes of correction and the force used is reasonable in the circumstances. The Bill will repeal that provision.

The effect of this amendment is that the statutory protection for use of force by parents and guardians will be removed. Children will now be in the same position as everyone else so far as the use of force (assault) is concerned. The use of force on a child may constitute an assault under section 194(a) of the Crimes Act, … and the repeal of section 59 ought not revive any old common law justification, excuse or defence that the provision may have codified.

Translation:

Parents will no longer be allowed to use any force on their children, reasonable or not *, whether for discipline or not*.

(* “not” being already illegal)

Good to see all bases are covered with the “common law” clause – i.e. even though before section 59 no judge would convict a parent doing their parental duty, that mustn’t happen now.

Note this phrase: “Children will now be in the same position as everyone else so far as the use of force (assault) is concerned.”

Too right, but children are not the issue here, parents are. Parents are removed from the list of authority figures (see section 60) that are allowed to use force as part of their duties.

I would argue that captains of ships and planes have the same reason as parents for this provision: Police aren’t available when something goes wrong. In the case of parents, this is because stuff goes wrong very, very often.

Look, people who propose this seriously have me wondering if they have ever even met a 2 year old. Young children are not mature members of society – they are learning how to get on with people, they have to be taught. I know there are arguments as to who may or may not be arrested – let’s put that aside for a minute. Why would you want a parent who grabs a 2 year old’s arm to stop him hitting someone illegal, whether or not the police get involved?

This from a party who trusts the police so little, they don’t even want them to have a non-lethal weapon like a tazer.

But this isn’t and never will be about people getting prosecuted, arrested or locked up for parenting, exemplary or just politically incorrect. It’s not about the police at all. It’s about CYPS.

You see, no one is suggesting that arrests have gone up in Sweden. They haven’t so far as I know. But arrests are easily measured. What is far harder to measure is the chilling effect this sort of law has on society, and the sheer power this gives “social services”.