Date: October 2007

Portugal prohibits corporal punishment by parents

On 4 September, the Portuguese Parliament passed Law 59/2007 which amends the Penal Code to prohibit all corporal punishment of children, including by parents. The Law came into force on 15 September. The government had previously argued that legislation was already sufficiently adequate to protect children from all corporal punishment, but detailed examination involving the collective complaints procedure under the European Social Charter and contradictory judgments by the Portuguese Supreme Court highlighted the need for explicit clarification of the prohibition in law.

The Penal Code now clearly states, in article 152:

"Whoever repeatedly, or not, inflicts physical or psychological ill-treatment, including corporal punishment, deprivation of liberty and sexual offences, is punished with 1 to 5 years of imprisonment."

The prohibition brings the number of European states to enact explicit prohibition in legislation to 17 – and a further eight are committed to similar legal reform. Worldwide, Portugal is the third country to enact prohibition this year, following the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Click here for a detailed account of the process leading to reform in Portugal, and information on other states prohibiting all corporal punishment.

Details of Portuguese laws relating to corporal punishment are in the full country report for Portugal.

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