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| 英法院裁决：家长未经同意带孩子离校属犯法 |
| http://english.enwell.net 2007-05-01 来源:国际在线 |
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Parents are breaking the law if they take their children out of school for holidays during term without the permission of the head teacher, the High Court ruled yesterday.
Schools, not parents, must decide whether children can be withdrawn from lessons for holidays or other family activities, Lord Justice Auld and Mr Justice Sullivan ruled.
They declared that parents can face a criminal conviction if they remove children in defiance of a school's wishes. The court overturned a decision by magistrates in the London borough of Bromley to acquit a woman who took her daughters on two holidays without permission.
Mr Justice Sullivan said the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with failing to secure the attendance of her children at their primary school, in breach of the Education Act 1996.
She had removed the three girls for a week's holiday in November 2003, which included participation in the finals of a dance contest, even though the school had refused permission for them to be absent.
The mother believed that the contest would be "important for their development". The judge said that she had also won a holiday competition in January 2004, which led to further unauthorised absences.
Other absences were attributed to medical causes, the mother's car breaking down, or traffic jams that delayed their arrival at school until after registration had been taken.
All three girls were performing above average at school, but Bromley education authority took the mother to court because of their poor attendance record. However, magistrates acquitted her at a hearing last September, saying that the woman had not failed to secure her daughters' regular attendance. They said that she should have exercised greater care concerning holidays during term, but concluded that the absences were justified.
Allowing the local authority's appeal yesterday, Mr Justice Sullivan said that the magistrates had misdirected themselves on the law. They had to decide only the strict liability issue of whether "the children had failed to attend school regularly". It was plain in law that leave of absence "means leave granted by the school - not leave which magistrates consider might have been justified". The magistrates "were simply not applying the correct statutory test".
Lord Justice Auld said that the case should be sent back to the magistrates with a direction to convict the mother, but with an indication that she should receive an absolute discharge in view of the time that had elapsed.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the ruling. He said: "This will be very helpful to schools and heads who want to put a stop to term-time holidays which interfere with children's education."
英国高等法院3月7日作出判决，父母今后如果未经校方同意而擅自把孩子接去参加节日活动，则将触犯法律。
据《泰晤士报》3月8日报道，英国高等法院法官7日裁决，当家长需要将在校子女接去参加节日活动或者其他家庭活动时，必须由学校而不是家长自己来决定孩子是否可以离开学校；如果家长不顾校方意见，擅自将子女带走，那他们可能被判有罪。高等法院的这项裁决推翻了大伦敦地区布罗姆利自治市地方法官的决定，这位法官之前认定，一名擅自从学校带走孩子们去参加节日活动的母亲并无过错。
2003年11月，在校方反对的情况下，这位母亲把女儿们从学校带去参加舞蹈比赛等节日活动，而且，她还经常以孩子身体不舒服、家里车辆故障以及交通堵塞等理由为孩子们的缺勤辩解。由于这几名孩子缺勤情况严重，于是当地教育主管部门将她们的母亲告上了法庭。但去年9月，法官们在听证会上说，尽管这位母亲此前的行为确实应当更谨慎一些，但造成孩子们缺勤的理由是正当的。
然而，英国高等法院法官沙利文7日表示，这位母亲将孩子们擅自带离学校导致她们缺勤，这一做法触犯了1996年颁布的教育法。法官奥尔德裁决，这个案子本应发回地方法院法官重审并判这位母亲有罪，但考虑到时效已过，对她不予起诉。
英国学校及学院校长协会的秘书长约翰·邓福德对7日的判决表示欢迎。他说：“学校和校长们希望遏止那些干扰孩子受教育期间的假日活动。这项裁决可给他们帮了大忙。”
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| 更多关于“离校”的新闻 |
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世界上的一队小小的漂泊者呀，请留下你们的足印在我的文字里。
A troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.
世界对着它的爱人，把它浩翰的面具揭下了。它变小了，小如一首歌，小如一回永恒的接吻。
The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover. It
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