Review of effect of law released

The 2007 child disicpline law required that the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development must monitor and advise the Minister of Social Development on the efects of the Act.

This report has just been released.  It concentrates on whether or not parents are being un-necessarily investigated and/or prosecuted for minor assaults on children under the new law.

It found that:

• there was no increase in the number of parents being investigated or prosecuted for light smacking
• there was no evidence that parents were being subjected to unnecessary state intervention for occasionally lightly smacking a child
• there has been a significant rise in the reporting, apprehension and prosecution of violent crimes, including within families
• that Police and Chid Youth and Family have not changed the ways they respond to reports of light smacking.

The full report can be viewed here.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/20091110%20CE%20Monitoring%20Report%20on%20s59.pdf