Summary of law reform necessary to achieve full prohibition

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

Article 233 of the Penal Code confirms “the right of any parent, teacher, or other person, having the lawful control of a child or young person to administer reasonable punishment to him”. Nearly the world over, corporal punishment is socially and legally accepted in childrearing. There should be clarity in law that no degree or kind of corporal punishment can be considered “reasonable”, through repeal of article 233 of the Penal Code and explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment of children by all persons with authority over them.

Explicit prohibition should be enacted which applies to all education settings, public and private, and in all alternative care settings, including public and private day care, residential care, foster care, etc.

Current legality of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. Article 233 of the Penal Code addresses cruelty to children but also states: “Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the right of any parent, teacher, or other person, having the lawful control of a child or young person to administer reasonable punishment to him.” As at October 2011, there were plans to review the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

Schools

Corporal punishment is lawful in schools under article 233 of the Penal Code (see above). The Education Act (1978) is silent on corporal punishment, stating in article 45 that the Minister may make rules concerning “powers of discipline over pupils that may be exercised by teachers and Education Authorities”.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. There is no provision for judicial corporal punishment in the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Act or the Juvenile Offenders Act (1972). In June 2006, elders and church leaders on Wagina Island agreed to stop whipping as a form of punishment for people who break village rules (reported in People First, 15 June 2006).

Corporal punishment is prohibited as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions by article 53 of the Correctional Services Act (2007), which states: “No prisoner may be subjected, by way of punishment, to (a) corporal punishment in any form....”

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is lawful in the alternative care system under the “right to administer reasonable punishment” in article 233 of the Penal Code.

Prevalence research

According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, in 2005-2006 seventy-two per cent of children aged 2-14 years old experienced violent discipline (physical punishment and/or psychological aggression). (UNICEF (2011), The State of the World’s Children, Table 9: Child Protection, www.unicef.org/sowc, NY: UNICEF)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee is concerned that:

1. corporal punishment is widely practised in the family, schools and other institutions such as prisons and in alternative care contexts;
2. there is insufficient knowledge about ill-treatment of children, including on the part of State agents;
3. acts of violations against the mother and/or other members of the family frequently take place in the presence of children.

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

1. take all legislative and other measures to prohibit all forms of physical and mental violence, including corporal punishment, against children in the family, schools, and in all other contexts;
2. conduct a study to assess the nature and extent of ill-treatment of children, and design policies and programmes to address it, including with international cooperation;
3. carry out public education campaigns about the negative consequences of ill-treatment of children and promote positive, non-violent forms of discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment; …”

(2 July 2003, CRC/C/15/Add.208, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 30 and 31)

Universal Periodic Review

The Solomon Islands was examined in the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2011. The Government accepted the recommendations to prohibit corporal punishment of children, stating that it considered they were already implemented or in the process of implementation (A/HRC/18/8, Report of the Working Group, paras. 80(15) and 80(31)). Examination in the second cycle is scheduled for 2016.