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.

Dr Frazer said: “Legislation is needed to continue the process of protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and to send a clear message that resorting to violence as a means of disciplining children is not acceptable.”

The Church has welcomed the announcement that Highlands and islands Green MSP John Finnie intends to bring forward a Private Members Bill in the Scottish Parliament to give children equal protection under the law.

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland debated physical punishment of children in May this year and backed a report that stated: “Other behaviours, now seen as unacceptable, were endorsed or tacitly accepted in scripture - capital punishment is now banned throughout Europe and slavery has long been condemned as inhumane.”

Dr Frazer, minister at Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh, said: “Physical punishment is recognised as a violation of children’s human rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“A ban on physical punishment respects children as rights holders and encourages us all to use non-violent methods of conflict resolution in adult life.”