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→Development of circumcision law: Add text and citation.
==Legal matters==
===Early Development of circumcision law===
The relevant statutes are the [http://www.cirp.org/library/legal/UKlaw/oap1861/ Offences Against the Person Act (1861)] and the [https://www.swarb.co.uk/acts/1933CaYPAct.shtml Children and Young Persons Act 1933].
A 1985 decision of the Law Lords ruled:
<blockquote>
Having regard to the reality that a child became increasingly independent as it grew older and that parental authority dwindled correspondingly, the law did not recognise any rule of absolute parental authority until a fixed age. Instead, parental rights were recognised by the law only as long as they were needed for the protection of the child and such rights yielded to the child's right to make his own decisions when he reached a sufficient understanding and intelligence to be capable of making up his own mind.<ref name="gillick1985>{{REFdocument
|title=Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] 3 All ER 402
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/legal/UKlaw/gillickvwestnorfolk1985/
|contribution=
|last=
|first=
|publisher=Circumcision Reference Library
|format=
|date=1985
|accessdate=2021-09-07
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
''Gillick'' affirmed the right and duty of parents to protect their child.
Sebastian Poulter, a legal authority,
===Human Rights Act 1998===