THE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT DEBATE IN CANADA |
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| Authors: | Martha Bailey |
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| Institution: | Martha Bailey, LL.B. (U of Toronto), LL.M (Queen's). D.Phil. (Oxford), is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law of Queen's University, Canada, who teaches family law, contracts, and conflict of laws. She has served as a consultant to the Department of Justice Canada on access enforcement and parental child abduction and is a correspondent for the Hague Conference on Private International Law INCADAT. Her research focuses on international family and children's law. |
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| Abstract: | The controversial issue of corporal punishment of children is now before the Supreme Court of Canada. Whether or not Canada's highest court rules that the "reasonable chastisement" defense to charges of assault on children by parents and teachers is unconstitutional, it is likely that Parliament will move forward with reforms. Social science evidence on the negative effects of corporal punishment has been accepted by the federal government, and it seems likely that Canada will soon join the list of countries that prohibit the practice. |
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| Keywords: | Corporal punishment children's rights best interests of the child |
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