Lawfulness of corporal punishment

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Corporal punishment is lawful in the home.

Children are protected from abuse, assault and harm under article 13 of the Child Protection Act (1994, amended 2005), where “harm” is defined as covering physical, psychological, sexual, emotional or moral injury, ill-treatment and impairment of health or development, but this is not interpreted as applying to all corporal punishment by parents. Article 13(1) states that “any person who ill-treats a child or otherwise exposes a child to harm shall commit an offence”. Protection is also provided by the Criminal Code (amended 2003), the Protection of the Child (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (1998), the Social Aid Act, and the Civil Code (amended 1999). The Protection from Domestic Violence Act (1997, in force 1998) was amended in 2004 to define “domestic violence” as including acts against a child of the perpetrator’s spouse, including “wilfully causing or attempting to cause physical injury”, “intimidation, harassment, ill-treatment, brutality or cruelty”, “harming a child of the spouse” and threatening any of these acts (Protection from Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act, 2004, article 3).

Schools

Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools by the Education Regulations (1957) and by circulars regularly issued by the Ministry of Education. Article 13(4) of the Regulations state: “No corporal punishment shall be inflicted on any pupil in any school.” The provisions in the Child Protection Act (see above) apply. The Act imposes a duty on all personnel of schools to report cases of children who may have been abused physically, morally or sexually or are victims of child neglect in their homes. We have no details of the provisions in the Education Act (amended 2004). Corporal punishment continues to be used in schools and in September 2007 the Ombudsperson for Children launched a Kit on Prevention of Violence at School to be distributed to all schools.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. The Constitution (1968, amended 2003) protects persons from inhuman treatment (articles 6 and 7). Available sentences under the Juvenile Offenders Act (1935, amended 1998) do not include corporal punishment.

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. The treatment of detainees is regulated by the Reform Institutions Act (1988, amended 1998) and associated regulations (the Prisons Regulations, the Rehabilitation Youth Centre Regulations and the Reforms Institutions Regulations), applicable to prisons, correctional youth centres and rehabilitation youth centres. The Act states that “no detainee shall be subject to punishment or privation of any kind”, but article 12 allows the use of “such force as is reasonably necessary … to maintain discipline in the institution”. In 2006, the government stated its commitment to introducing explicit prohibition in law.

Alternative care

There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in all alternative care settings. Applicable laws include the Child Protection Act, the Institution for Welfare and Protection of Children Regulations (2000) and the Child Protection (Foster Care) Regulations (2002, amended 2005). The Residential Care Homes Act (2003) provides for licensing of residential care homes and for a regulatory body responsible for the control and discipline of these homes.

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

None identified.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“While noting that corporal punishment is prohibited in schools through the Education Regulations of 1957, the Committee remains concerned that corporal punishment is not explicitly forbidden by law in the family and in all settings, including in alternative care settings.

“The Committee reiterates its previous concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.64, para. 31) and urges the State party to prohibit through legislation and other measures corporal punishment of children in the family, in schools, in penal institutions and in alternative care settings. The Committee further recommends that the State party conduct awareness-raising campaigns among adults and children, the promotion of non-violent, positive, participatory methods of child-rearing and education.”
(17 March 2006, CRC/C/MUS/CO/2, Concluding observations on second report, paras. 37 and 38)

“The Committee is concerned by the reported increase in child abuse, including infanticide, domestic violence and child prostitution and the lack of adequate measures for the psycho-social recovery of child victims of such abuse.

“In the light of articles 19, 34 and 35 of the Convention, the Committee encourages the State party to take all appropriate measures to prevent and combat ill-treatment of children, including child abuse within the family, corporal punishment, child labour and the sexual exploitation of children, including victims of sexual tourism….”
(30 October 1996, CRC/C/15/Add.64, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 18 and 31)