Summary of law reform necessary to achieve full prohibition

Corporal punishment is prohibited in all settings, including the home.

Current legality of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is prohibited in the home. A 1997 amendment to the Parental Custody and Care Act (1995) states: “The child has the right to care and security. He or she shall be treated with respect as an individual and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other degrading treatment.”

Schools

Corporal punishment in schools was prohibited in 1967 under Danish Order No. 276 Concerning the Promotion of Order in the Schools.

Penal system

Corporal punishment was abolished as a sentence for crime in 1911.

Corporal punishment has been unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions since 1933, but we have no details of prohibiting legislation.

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is unlawful in alternative care settings. The prohibition of corporal punishment by parents and carers in the Parental Custody and Care Act (see above) applies to all persons with parental authority over children.

Prevalence research

None identified in the last ten years.

For research published more than ten years ago, see the research pages.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee notes with concern that corporal punishment is lawful in the home and alternative care settings in the Faroe Islands and that, although Government Circular No. 1 on School Discipline (12 January 1994) states that corporal punishment should not be used, there is no explicit prohibition in law.

“The Committee urges the State party to take measures to ensure that corporal punishment is prohibited in all settings and throughout its territory and to conduct awareness-raising and public education programmes with a view to encouraging the use of alternative disciplinary measures in line with the inherent dignity of the child, while taking due account of the Committee’s General Comment No. 8 on Protection from Corporal Punishment and Other Cruel or Degrading Forms of Punishment (2006).”
(4 February 2011, CRC/C/DNK/CO/4 Advance Unedited Version, Concluding observations on fourth report, paras. 38 and 39)

“The Committee notes with satisfaction that in 1997, the right of parents to use corporal punishment on their children was abolished by law. The Committee expresses further satisfaction at the nationwide awareness raising campaign undertaken to inform parents about the new legislation. The Committee notes the efforts to include material in minority languages as a follow-up to the campaign.”
(10 July 2001, CRC/C/15/Add.151, Concluding observations on second report, para. 6)

European Committee of Social Rights

“The Committee notes with satisfaction that Act No. 416/1997 abolished corporal punishment in the home; a child may not be punished corporally or exposed to other degrading treatment.”
(1 January 2001, Conclusions XV-2 vol. 1, pages 139-142)

Denmark is due to be examined under the Universal Periodic Review process in 2011.