Parents who slap children can be charged

Parents who hit or slap their children can be charged with assault under historic anti-corporal punishment legal changes that will take effect from today.

The new measures, which effectively amount to a ban on slapping children, were signed into law by Children’s Minister James Reilly at midnight last night after advocacy group and UN pressure to ensure the rights of children are protected.

Under previous laws dating back more than a century, a parent or adult looking after children could use the ‘reasonable chastisement’ rule as a defence for hitting a child — an issue that has repeatedly been the subject of controversy in schools, homes and under-age sports grounds.