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Law of Torts.doc
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V) Discipline

The law continues to recognize a privilege on the part of parents and teachers to use reasonable force to discipline children. The defence mirrors section 43 of the Criminal Code, [Note 93: Above note 61. ] which provides the same protection from criminal prosecution. The defendant must prove that the force was used for the purposes of correction and that the force was reasonable. The former requires a consideration of the child's behaviour. The usual range of juvenile misdemeanours ranging from disobedience, disrespect to adults, foul language, smoking, and running away from home are sufficient to warrant some physical discipline. Most cases turn on the issue of the reasonableness of the force. Consideration is given to the seriousness of the offence, the age and character of the child, the nature and consequences of the punishment, and the seriousness of any injuries suffered by the child.

The corporal punishment of children is an increasingly contentious issue in Canada. There is a growing consensus that teachers should no longer use corporal punishment. It has been outlawed by many school boards. Opinion continues to be divided on the privilege of parents to use appropriate and measured force in correction of their children. It is, however, becoming more and more difficult to justify the use of corporal punishment in the light of social science evidence that suggests it is not a particularly effective means of influencing the behaviour of children, the public interest in reducing child abuse and violence of all kinds, and the abolition in Canada of all corporal punishment other than that inflicted on its children. Attempts have been made to repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code, a step that would inevitably affect tort law, but to date they have been unsuccessful.

Captains of ships and aircraft also have a privilege to exercise reasonable force to secure the safety of their ship or aircraft or its passengers. This privilege probably arises only when the ship is at sea or the aircraft is in the air. In those situations, the police are not available to secure order and the captains are permitted to act in their stead. The privilege is particularly important in respect of disorderly and intoxicated passengers on aircraft.

VI) Necessity

Courts are reluctant to sanction an intentional interference with the person on the ground of necessity. Nevertheless, there are occasions where interference with the person can be justified on the ground that it will achieve a benefit which outweighs the wrong to such an extent that the wrong must be forgiven. Examples include the provision of emergency medical treatment to maintain the life or health of an unconscious patient and the reasonable restraint of patients in health- care facilities who, because of mental or physical incapacity, are a danger to themselves or others. The defences of self-defence and defence of a third party are also loosely related to the concept of necessity but in those situations the plaintiff is also a wrongdoer.

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