Summary of law reform necessary to achieve full prohibition

Prohibition is still to be achieved in the home, schools, penal institutions and alternative care settings.

There appears to be no legal defence for the use of corporal punishment in childrearing, but provisions against violence and abuse are not interpreted as prohibiting all corporal punishment. The near universal acceptance of corporal punishment in “disciplining” children necessitates clarity in law that all corporal punishment, however light, is prohibited.

Explicit prohibition of corporal punishment should be enacted in relation to all education settings (public and private), all institutions accommodating children in conflict with the law and all alternative care settings, including public and private day care, residential institutions, foster care, etc.

Current legality of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. Provisions against violence and abuse in the Minority Act and the Penal Code (1981) are not interpreted as prohibiting corporal punishment in childrearing.

Schools

In 2009, the Minister of Education signed a Ministerial Order stating that corporal punishment should not be used by teachers in public or private schools, but there is no prohibition in law.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. It is not a permitted sanction under the Penal Code. The Code of Criminal Procedure prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. Children in prison are protected from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under Decree No. 69-189 (1969) regulating prison establishments and laying down conditions for the enforcement of prison sentences (articles 33-36), in which there is no provision for corporal punishment. However, there is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in Decree No. 82-334 (1982) concerning people, works or institutions receiving minors as a result of a judicial decision.

Alternative care

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in alternative care settings.

Prevalence research

According to a statistical review by UNICEF, 71% of children aged 2-14 experienced minor physical punishment in the home in 2005-2006, although a smaller percentage of mothers/caretakers (39%) believed that children need to be physically punished. The same review reported that 65% of girls and women aged 15-49 believed that a husband or partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances. (UNICEF (2007), Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children – Statistical Review, Number 6, December 2007)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies