It was reported in mid-June that the Ministry of Justice has written to The Christian Institute and confirmed that the new Serious Crime Bill will not criminalise religious parents who teach their children biblical principles.
Conservative MP Damian Green told the Institute that the Bill, which partly aims to deal with child neglect, would only target ‘cruelty likely to cause physical or psychological suffering or injury’ to children.
Prior to the Bill being announced in the Queen’s Speech, there was widespread concern that the Government could introduce a so-called ‘Cinderella law’ that would crimi-nalise emotional neglect. Critics, including The Times columnist Libby Purves, argued that the anticipated law could have also criminalised religious parents who do not agree with evolutionary science.
When the Serious Crime Bill was published in early June, however, it became clear that the Bill simply modernises the language of the existing child cruelty offence to use the term ‘psychological suffering’ – without broadening its scope. Green told the Institute’s deputy director Simon Calvert that the Government is not proposing to ‘extend criminal liability’ beyond psychological harm.
Green said: ‘I am aware of concerns that the Government’s proposed changes could criminalise parents for teaching their children particular religious tenets, for example, that same sex marriages are wrong. I would emphasise that the focus, as now, would be on targeting cruelty likely to cause physical or psychological suffering or injury’.
He added that the law on child cruelty would continue to be interpreted by the courts as it currently is.
