Lawfulness of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home, where “reasonable chastisement” is permitted.

Schools

Corporal punishment is prohibited in state schools by a Government Directive made under the Education (Guernsey) Law (1970). There is no explicit legal prohibition of corporal punishment in private schools, but they are licensed and inspected by the Education Department and have all discontinued the use of corporal punishment.

Penal system

Corporal punishment as a sentence for crime is unlawful under article 11 of the Criminal Justice (Attempts, Conspiracy and Jurisdiction) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law (2006, in force March 2007), which repeals the Corporal Punishment (Guernsey) Law (1957).

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. A person aged 14-21 years in youth detention is deemed a prisoner for the purposes of the Prison Administration Ordinance. There is no provision for corporal punishment in that Ordinance.

Alternative care

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in all other institutions and forms of childcare. It is prohibited in care institutions and foster care as a matter of policy, and in March 2005 consideration was being given to explicit prohibition in all alternative care settings in draft legislation.

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

None identified.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

"The Committee, while noting amendments to legislation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which restrict the application of the defence of 'reasonable chastisement', is concerned that this defence has not been removed. The Committee welcomes the commitment of the National Assembly in Wales to prohibiting all corporal punishment in the home, but notes that under the terms of devolution it is not possible for the Assembly to enact the necessary legislation. The Committee is concerned at the failure of State party to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment in the home and emphasises its view that the existence of any defence in cases of corporal punishment of children does not comply with the principles and provisions of the Convention, since it would suggest that some forms of corporal punishment are acceptable.

"The Committee is further concerned that corporal punishment is lawful in the home, schools and alternative care settings in virtually all overseas territories and crown dependencies.

"The Committee, reiterating its previous recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.188, para. 35), in light of its General Comment n° 8 on 'the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment', as well as noting similar recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, recommends that the State party:

1. prohibit as a matter of priority all corporal punishment in the family, including through the repeal of all legal defences, in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and in all overseas territories and crown dependencies;
2. ensure that corporal punishment is explicitly prohibited in schools and all other institutions and forms of alternative care throughout the United Kingdom and in the overseas territories and crown dependencies;
3. actively promote positive and non-violent forms of discipline and respect for children's equal right to human dignity and physical integrity, with a view to raising public awareness of children's right to protection from all corporal punishment and to decreasing public acceptance of its use in childrearing;
4. provide parental education and professional training in positive child-rearing."

(3 October 2008, CRC/C/GBR/CO/4 Unedited version, Concluding observations on third/fourth report, paras. 40, 41 and 42)

Committee Against Torture

“The Committee recommends that the Government of the United Kingdom take the following measures:

i) reconsidering corporal punishment with a view to determining if it should be abolished in those dependencies that still retain it.”
(9 July 1996, Concluding Observations A/51/44, paras. 58-65, Concluding observations on second report, para. 65(i))

Human Rights Committee

“The Committee notes the information provided by the delegation that corporal punishment is not permitted in schools on the Isle of Man as a matter of policy, and recommends the adoption of legislation to outlaw corporal punishment (arts. 7 and 10).”
(27 March 2000, CCPR/C/79/Add.119, Concluding observations on fourth and fifth reports, para. 11)