S v MANGWARIRA 1988 (2) ZLR 372 (SC)

Flynote

Criminal law — assault — corporal punishment inflicted by schoolteacher — authority of teacher to inflict such punishment.

Headnote

The appellant, a student teacher at a government secondary school, was convicted of assault after she had caned one of the boys on his buttocks. She admitted at the trial that she knew that only the headmaster was permitted to administer corporal punishment. On appeal, Held, that although the right of a parent to administer reasonable punishment is clear under the common law, the right of a teacher to do so is less certain. Especially in modern times, the right of a schoolmaster in this respect tends, even in private or non-Government schools, to be restricted by internal regulations governing such questions as who may punish, in what circumstances and in what manner. In the absence of any rule or regulation to the contrary, it may be that even a student teacher has a right to inflict moderate chastisement on pupils under his or her control.

Held, further, that in my view of the appellant's admission that she knew that only the headmaster was authorized to inflict corporal punishment, it did not matter whether that reservation of authority was based on an internal school rule or, as here, on a statutory instrument, the Education (Disciplinary Powers) Regulations 1979 (RGN 95/1979). In either case, she could not rely on an authority which she acknowledged she did not have and the defence of lawfulness must fail.