The Church of Scotland has repeated its call for the physical punishment of children to be outlawed in Scotland.
The Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, has urged MSPs to remove the defence of ‘justifiable assault’ from the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.
Dr Frazer addressed an Equal Protection for Children seminar at the Scottish Parliament in November, highlighting research showing that physical punishment is harmful for children’s health and that legal reform should be a priority for the Scottish Government.