Date: March 2009

Moldova prohibits all corporal punishment

The Republic of Moldova has prohibited corporal punishment in all settings, including the family home. The Family Code has been amended to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment by parents and others with parental authority.

The new article 53 of the Code covers “the right of the child to be protected” and states in paragraph 4 that the child “has the right to be protected against abuses, including corporal punishment by his parents or persons who replace them”. Article 62 concerns parents’ rights and states in paragraph 2 that “methods to educate children, chosen by parents, will exclude abusive behaviour, insults and ill-treatments of all types, discrimination, psychological and physical violence, corporal punishments [etc]”.

This brings the total number of countries worldwide which have achieved full prohibition to 24, including 19 Council of Europe member states.

For further information, see “Countdown to prohibition”, “States prohibiting”, and the detailed country report on the Republic of Moldova.

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