Wales has become the second UK nation (after Scotland) to prohibit all corporal punishment of children!

The Welsh National Assembly has passed the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act and achieved equal protection from assault for children. The Act repeals the common law defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ and states that:

"… corporal punishment of a child taking place in Wales cannot be justified in any civil or criminal proceedings on the ground that it constituted reasonable punishment."

The Act also amends the Children Act 2004 accordingly, though the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ in section 58 of the Children Act will still apply in England. With this clear and explicit repeal of the defence, criminal laws against assault in Wales will apply equally to children as they do to adults, providing children with protection from all corporal punishment in all settings.