Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007

Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007
New Zealand Parliament
The purpose of this Act is to amend the principal Act to make better provision for children to live in a safe and secure environment free from violence by abolishing the use of parental force for the purpose of correction.
Date of Royal Assent	21 May 2007
Date commenced	21 June 2007
Introduced by	Sue Bradford
Related legislation
Crimes Act 1961
Status: Current legislation

The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 (formerly the Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill) is an amendment to New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 which removed the legal defence of "reasonable force" for parents prosecuted for assault on their children.

The law was introduced to the New Zealand Parliament as a private members bill by Green Party Member of Parliament Sue Bradford in 2005, after being drawn from the ballot. It drew intense debate, both in Parliament and from the public. The bill was colloquially referred to by several of its opponents and newspapers as the "anti-smacking bill". The bill was passed on its third reading on 16 May 2007 by 113 votes to eight. The Governor-General of New Zealand granted the bill Royal Assent on 21 May 2007, and the law came into effect on 21 June 2007.

A citizens-initiated referendum on the issues surrounding the law was held between 30 July and 21 August 2009, asking "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" Despite widespread criticism of the question's wording, the referendum was returned with an 87.4 percent "No" vote on a turnout of 56.1 percent.

Prior to the amendment bill, Section 59 read as follows:

59 Domestic discipline
(1) Every parent of a child and, subject to subsection (3), every person in the place of the parent of a child is justified in using force by way of correction towards the child, if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances.
(2) The reasonableness of the force used is a question of fact.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) justifies the use of force towards a child in contravention of section 139A of the Education Act 1989.

Section 139A of the Education Act 1989 is the enactment criminalising school corporal punishment, so the third clause prohibited teacher-parents from using force on their own children if it could be interpreted as school corporal punishment.

Section 59 now reads as follows:

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