Proposed NI smacking ban ‘costly and harmful’

The Institute has warned that the proposed smacking ban in Northern Ireland would distract from tackling genuine abuse.

Alliance MLA Michelle Guy has proposed an amendment to the Justice Bill to criminalise parents who smack their children on the hand or bottom.

As in England, smacking is allowed in the context of “reasonable chastisement” in Northern Ireland. It has been banned in Scotland and Wales.

Reasonable chastisement

Guy’s amendment would ensure that: “physical punishment of a child taking place in Northern Ireland cannot be justified in any civil or criminal proceedings on the ground that it constituted reasonable punishment”.

The MLA commented: “This amendment is about creating positive change for children and families.”

She said: “This legal change would not introduce a new offence, simply the removal of an existing legal defence of reasonable chastisement.”

DUP MP Sammy Wilson spoke against the amendment, saying: “I don’t think it’s something that we would support. We believe that parents should be the best decision makers when it comes to how they discipline their children”.

Cost of time and money

James Kennedy, the Institute’s Northern Ireland Policy Officer, said: “When the Welsh government introduced its smacking ban, it agreed to pour nearly £4m into the project – around £1m of it swallowed up by policing and criminal justice alone.

“Since then even more costs have surfaced, with what appears to be hundreds of thousands spent burdening social workers with assessing parents’ discipline.”

He added: “Currently, the law permits only what the courts deem ‘reasonable’. So why would we waste millions dragging police and social services into these cases?”

Protect from genuine abuse

Kennedy reasoned that instead of a ban on smacking, “those resources should be protecting children from genuine abuse and tackling real crime”.

He warned: “Whatever your view on smacking, this change risks serious, lasting harm.

“Even when parents are not prosecuted, the fact of an investigation could still appear on AccessNI checks – threatening their jobs, careers, and the family’s financial stability. That cannot be in the best interests of children.”