Date: January 2002

Canadian court condemns corporal punishment - but rejects constitutional challenge

The Ontario (Canada) Court of Appeal stated in a judgment released on January 15 2002 that the Canadian government "has clearly and properly determined" that physical punishment of children is bad. But the Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the law which justifies the use of "reasonable force" by parents, teachers and some others to discipline children. The Court found that even if current law infringed children's equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it was a justifiable limit on those rights.

The Court's judgment is at www.ontariocourts.on.ca/appeal.htm

The Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law in Toronto, www.jfcy.org which brought the challenge, commented: "We are disappointed with the result. Although the decision says that the physical punishment of children is a bad thing, it fails to clearly recognise children as having rights in Canadian society. It stops short of saying that children are people too". (For full text of release in PDF format click here).

The challenge is under the Canadian Charter of Human Rights. Section 43 of Canada's Crimes Act provides a defence for corporal punishment. It states: "Every school teacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable in the circumstances".

The application seeks repeal of the section, alleging that it violates children's rights, upheld in the Charter, to equal protection under the law and to security of person. Reliance is also placed on Canada's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The application was rejected by a lower court (the Ontario Superior Court) in July 2000 (click here for extracts from the judgement). The case is likely to go for final decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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