7.1.5 ‘Reasonable punishment (violence/discipline)’ and violence against children as a private matter In the course of the Inquiry, many stories were relayed of discipline/violence towards children and repeatedly the question was asked: What constitutes reasonable punishment (violence/discipline) of children? What is the legal standard in Samoa? Inquiry Info Point 6: What is ‘reasonable punishment’ of children by parents under Samoan law? Section 12 of the Infants Ordinance 1961 makes it illegal for any person having the custody or control of any child under the age or apparent age of 18 years, to cause that child unnecessary suffering or injury (implicitly through discipline). However, section 14 of the same Act allows a parent, teacher, or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer reasonable punishment on that child. The Act is silent on what ‘reasonable punishment’ means. Case laws leave it open to interpretation by the Judge hearing a particular case.6 As such, there is no legal definition of ‘reasonable punishment’ in Samoan law and makes it harder to hold perpetrators of violence towards children to account. This legal uncertainty has created a situation where parents and society at large don’t understand where the line is. For some, slapping is ok but not punching; for others using a weapon or instrument to hit amounts to violence and some have no boundaries. Hardly anyone who came before the Inquiry viewed any form of verbal discipline/violence as crossing the line of ‘reasonable punishment’. 7 “The problem with this (reasonable punishment defence) is that your reasonable punishment and my reasonable punishment are very different.” Justice Vui Clarence Nelson, Supreme Court Judge, Inquiry public hearings The consequence of this uncertainty is that there are people all along the spectrum of what is acceptable and there is no way of saying to any one person that their actions towards children are going too far. 6Police v Lagaaia [2017] WSDC 23 (13 October 2017). Retrieved from http://www.paclii.org/cgi bin/sinodisp/ws/cases/WSDC/2017/23.html?stem=&synonyms=&query=reasonable%20punishment. Accessed 30 May 2018. 7 See section 14 of the Infants Ordinance 1961.