R (Williamson) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment

R. (on the application of Williamson) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment; UKHL 15 [2005] 2 A.C. 246, was an unsuccessful challenge to the prohibition of school corporal punishment in the Education Act 1996 by the headmasters of private Christian schools in the United Kingdom.The heads of a number of Christian private schools - Philip Williamson, Michael Bates, Grahame Davies, David Greenwood, Marianne Hosey, Paul Hubbard, Philip Moon, Anthony Seaton, and Matthew Walker - wished to use corporal punishment as a disciplinary device in their schools.They claimed that the prohibition of corporal punishment in the Education Act 1996 s.548 was a breach of their freedom of religion under Article 9 ECHR.They were represented by Paul Diamond and James Dingemans QC The House of Lords held unanimously that there was a big difference between freedom of religious belief and freedom to manifest that belief.Any interference was deemed justified, "necessary in a democratic society... for the protection of rights and freedoms for others".
school corporal punishmentEducation Act 1996United Kingdomcorporal punishmentdisciplinary deviceBradford Christian Schoolnecessary in a democratic societyHuman Rights Act 1998