BIRCHING BARRED

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1932, Page 7

BIRCHING BARRED

THE LAW AND THE CHILD.

PUBLICITY PROTECTION.

' Rightly or wrongly, the law of New Zealand,' as it stands at present, does not countenance the whipping.or birch'ing of a child; at least, there is no provision in any of the statutes dealing with the question of child welfare to enable a magistrate to. make any such order in cases brought m the Children s Court. It was not always so in New Zealand, but' when the Child Wehare Act was passed in 1805 the. power which magistrates once had of inflicting this type of punishment on youthful delinquents was withdrawn. A child, under the Child Welfare Act is a bov or girl under the age of 17 years,' and when any offence, is committed by children it is provided that that the proceedings shall be te-hen m a Children’s Court. In this Court all vitally concerned are immune from much undesirable publicity, for the Pxess ha\e do obtain special permission to be preeent and special consent from the Presiding magistrate or justices to publish any’ report of the proceedings. In any case, it is unlawful to publish the name of any child, or of its parents or guardian, or any other name and particulars likely to lead to the - identification of the child charged. Virtually, under the Child Welfare Act and its amendment, the only penalties a magistrate has power to inflict when presiding over a Children’s Court are that he can order a child to be committed to the care of tho Child Welfare Superintendent or place the offender under the supervision of a. Child Welfare Officer for some definite period. In the first case the child remains in the care of the State until he or she reaches the of 2<l, the superintendent having all the powers of parents or a guardian. It follows that in such circumstances the real parents or guardian of the child so committed cease to have any control. An offender who is placed under the supervision of the Child Welfare Officer remains in the custody of the parents or guardian, but the Court may order that the child be detained in some institution for a time.