Sue Bradford MP

Asubmission guide is now available for people wanting to make submissions on Sue Bradford's Bill to repeal s 59 of the Crimes Act. The closing date for submissions is 28 February 2006.

Latest News:

Nats using selective facts to frighten parents
15 Feb 2006: National MP Judith Collins should put more effort into the protecting New Zealand children from harm and less instead trying to get herself headlines, the Green Party says. "Collins is using selective facts to needlessly frighten parents from supporting the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act," Green MP Sue Bradford says. "It is simply not true that, should Section 59 be repealed, police will be running around the country locking parents up for lightly smacking their children. Police have said they will treat each case on its merits and will only prosecute when it is deemed necessary.Read more &raquo
Go to thesection 59 repeal submission guide - deadline for submissions: 28 Feb 2006.

Select Committee sets deadline for section 59 submissions
24 November 2005:The Justice & Electoral Select Committee has set a deadline of 28 February 2006 for submissions on Sue Bradford's Bill to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act. Go to oursubmission guide &raquo

Law Society Section 59 paper welcome, but on wrong track
17 October 2005:The Auckland District Law Society's new paper on Section 59 is a welcome addition to the debate but the Green Party cannot support some of its proposals, Children's Issues Spokesperson Sue Bradford says.Read more &raquo

Pamphlet reveals true agenda of pro-beating lobby
24 August 05:Sue Bradford says she is deeply disturbed that a pamphlet advocating the beating of children with implements has been distributed in an Auckland school. "In a democracy, I accept accept the right of the pro-beating lobby to say what they want, but I am very concerned that their dangerous propaganda has been distributed by Carey College in Panmure," Ms Bradford said. "Schools simply should not be encouraging their parents to beat their kids with rods, especially given that we live in a country with one of the worst rates of violence against children in the developed world."Read more &raquo

Police opinion on section 59 welcomed
22 August 05:The Green Party has welcomed a legal opinion from the Office of the Police Commissioner about the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act, which presently allows parents to get away with violent attacks on their children. The opinion states that police investigating complaints of assault against children, "as is the case with all assault investigations, would consider the amount of force used in the circumstances before making a decision about whether prosecution is required in the public interest". The police legal opinion also says that police would not prosecute parents who used physical force when they remove their children from danger.Read more &raquo

Section 59 repeal Bill passes first reading
27 July 05:Speaking in the First Reading debate on her Bill to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act, Sue Bradford says "At the moment we have a situation where judges and juries have it within their power to find parents not guilty of assault when, for example, they beat their children with canes, riding crops, jug cords, hosepipe, belts or pieces of wood. My Bill simply seeks to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act, nothing more and nothing less. What section 59 does in law is to allow a defence of 'reasonable force' when a parent is charged with assaulting their child, even when that assault is carried out with objects like these.
Read thefull text of Sue's speech&raquo

What is Section 59?

Section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961 states that the parent of a child, or a person in the place of a parent "is justified in using force by way of correction towards a child if that force is reasonable in the circumstances."

It is up to a jury to decide if the force used was reasonable in the circumstances. This was interpreted by a jury in Napier in recent years to mean that it was reasonable for a father to hit his eight year old son eight times with a piece of wood 30cm by 2 cm — leaving linear bruising visible for days. Also in recent years a jury in Hamilton considered it reasonable for a father to hit his 12 year old daughter with a piece of hosepipe, leaving a raised 15cm-long lump with red edges on the girl's back.

These cases form the legal background against which police decide whether to prosecute or not when they come across similar instances of abuse. Thus beating children with pieces of wood and hosepipes is "reasonable" under current law. The United Nations reports that we are the only country to have such harmful legislation.

Why repeal?

Full repeal of Section 59 is the only way of removing the legal justification for assaulting babies, children and young people. Repealing Section 59 also means that we will be meeting our international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

What about smacking?

In Europe, ten countries have already changed laws so that no physical punishment of children is allowed. In these countries there is no evidence at all that police prosecute for this kind of minor assault. What does happen on the evidence from Europe is that child abuse deaths drop, and very few parents now feel that physically punishing our children is an acceptable way for adults to treat people deserve adult love and care, not adult physical and mental assault on their well-being.

What will the Greens do?

The Green Party has a Private Members Bill drawn from the ballot to repeal Section 59. We believe that children, like all people, should be able to live their lives free from violence. Section 59 legalises violence against children. We cannot understand why it is against the law to assault other adults, while it is OK for us to assault our children. It is fear — not respect — that is learned from a piece of wood or a hosepipe or the use of any adult force against a child.

What can you do?

The Green Party's Bill to repeal section 59 - Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill - has been drawn from the ballot. We need to convince the Labour Party and other political parties to support it at the Social Services Select Committee.

You can help by:

• Making a submission in support of Sue Bradford's Bill.
• Contacting your local MP, thePrime Minister and theMinister of Social Development and ask them to support Sue Bradford's Bill for the full repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act.
• If you are involved with a union, church or community organisation, please feel welcome to invite Sue Bradford or another Green representative to meet with your group about our Children's policies.

DownloadSection 59 leaflet as .pdf (560KB) for copying and distribution; or contact Sue Bradford's Parliamentary Office to be sent colour hard copies.

For more information about the Green Party's campaign to stop violence against children, and about our social and economic justice policies, contactSue Bradford MP (Children's Issues Spokesperson) orIvan Sowry (Social & Economic Justice Outreach Coordinator), or visit ourSocial and Economic Justice Campaign Page.

Read a copy ofSue Bradford's Bill to repeal Section 59

Go to theSocial & Economic Justice Campaign Page