Date: November 2008

CAT recommends prohibition in the home 

Following examination of states parties at its 41^st session (3 – 21 November), the Committee Against Torture recommended that Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro prohibit by law all corporal punishment, including in the home.

In its concluding observations on the initial report of Montenegro (CAT/C/MNE/CO/1 Advance Unedited Version, para. 22), the Committee stated:

The Committee notes that corporal punishment of children is not explicitly prohibited in all settings and that it is a common and accepted means of childrearing. (art. 16)

The State party, taking into account the recommendation in the United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children, should adopt and implement legislation prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, including the family, supported by the necessary awareness-raising and public education measures.

The Committee made similar recommendations to Serbia (CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on initial report, para. 20). The recommendation to prohibit all corporal punishment in the home in Belgium was made in the context of addressing domestic violence and violence against women and girls in the home (CAT/C/BEL/CO/2 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on second report, para. 24).

The Committee welcomed the prohibition of corporal punishment of children in schools and in the judicial process in China (CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on fourth report, para. 5).

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