Lawfulness of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is lawful in the home. Parental responsibilities are provided for in the Child Care Ordinance (1996).

Protection from cruelty and ill-treatment is provided by the Children and Young Persons Ordinance (1965, with subsequent amendments). This Ordinance also applies in the dependencies of St Helena, in Ascension Island under the Application of St Helena Law (Ascension) Ordinance 1987 and in Tristan da Cunha under the Application of St Helena Laws (Tristan da Cunha) Ordinance (1987). The Child Care Ordinance does not apply to Tristan da Cunha.

Schools

Corporal punishment is unlawful in schools, which are governed by the Education Ordinance.

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. The Juvenile Court, established by section 12 of the Magistrates’ Courts Ordinance (1968), deals with juveniles under the age of 17. The Criminal Procedure Ordinance (1975) provides for the detention of young offenders (under the age of 16), with other sentences being conditional discharge, probation orders, community service orders (for those under 14) and fines. The same laws apply in Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. In 1999, new prison regulations were adopted (the Gaol Rules, 1999) which enable rules to be made for the maintenance of discipline but state that these rules may not authorise corporal punishment.

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is unlawful in residential institutions under the Children’s Homes (Amendment) Rules (2001). There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in other alternative care settings.

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

None identified.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee expresses grave concern that corporal punishment is still widely practised in many of the Overseas Territories and that domestic legislation generally does not prohibit and eliminate its use in schools, care institutions and homes….

“The Committee recommends that all appropriate measures, including of a legislative nature, be taken to prohibit and eliminate all forms of corporal punishment within the school, juvenile justice and alternative care systems and in the home. The Committee further suggests that awareness raising and education campaigns be conducted to change public attitudes and ensure that alternative forms of discipline are administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity and in conformity with the Convention, especially articles 19 and 28.2.”
(16 October 2000, CRC/C/15/Add.135,  Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 35 and 36)

Committee Against Torture

“Positive aspects:

d) the removal of corporal punishment as a penalty in several of the Dependent Territories.”
(17 November 1998, A/54/44, Concluding observations on third report, paras. 72-77, para. 74(d))

“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, A/51/44, paras. 58-65, Concluding observations on second report, para. 65(i))

“… The territories appeared to be governed in accordance with the obligations on the Convention and the Committee congratulated the Government of the United Kingdom in this respect. The Committee was, however, interested in receiving more detail pertaining to cases of corporal punishment in the territories retaining it. The nature and incidence of such punishment, together with details of the crime and the characteristics of the offender, should be forwarded to the Committee when the information is gathered….”
(26 June 1993, A/48/44, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 261-283, para. 283)

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

“Given the principle of the dignity of the individual, which provides the foundation for international human rights law (see paragraph 41 of the Committee’s General Comment No. 13) and in the light of article 10.1 and 10.3 of the Covenant, the Committee recommends that the physical punishment of children in families be prohibited, in line with the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (see paragraph 31 of the 1995 concluding observations of that Committee (CRC/C/15/Add.34)).”
(5 June 2002, E/C.12/1/Add.79, Concluding observations on fourth report of UK, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Dependent Territories, para. 36)