Legal News
High Court judge says newly-arrived immigrant families should not be penalised for smacking their children (10 June 2015)
Date: 10/06/2015
A judge in the Family Division has said that parents from immigrant families should be allowed to slap their children when they first arrive in the UK, adding that, “Proper allowance must be made for... a different cultural context”.
The Daily Mail reports that Mrs Justice Pauffley’s comments in the High Court were made during a custody case involving an eight-year-old boy whose father slapped him.
Mrs Justice Pauffley said that police and social services should make allowances for migrant families when they first come to Britain.
Her comments have provoked a backlash from children’s campaigners, however.
“Proper allowance must be made for what is, almost certainly, a different cultural context,” the judge told the High Court.
“Within many communities newly arrived in this country, children are slapped and hit for misbehaviour in a way which at first excites the interest of child protection professionals.
“In this instance ... the boy did not appear to have suffered more than sadness and transient pain from what was done to him.”
Smacking children was banned under the 2004 Children’s Act. It is illegal for parents to smack their children if bruising, swelling or cuts result.
A spokesman for the NSPCC said:
“Children need to be protected irrespective of cultural sensitivities.
“Different practices are no excuse for child abuse taking place in this country and the law doesn’t make that distinction.
“Every child deserves the right to be safe and protected from physical abuse and the courts must reflect this.”
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