Lawfulness of corporal punishment

Home

Corporal punishment is prohibited in the home. In November 2007, a new law (“Proyecto de Ley Sustitutivo – Prohibición del castigo físico”) was passed which repeals the provisions in the Civil Code (articles 261 and 384) and in the Children and Adolescents Code (article 16) recognising the right of parents and others to inflict corporal punishment on children under the guise of “moderate/adequate correction”. It explicitly prohibits all corporal punishment and other humiliating or degrading treatment of children. It inserts into the Children and Adolescent Code a new article 12bis which states (unofficial translation): “Prohibition of physical punishment. It is prohibited for parents, guardians, and all other persons responsible for the care, treatment, education or supervision of children and adolescents, to use physical or any other kind of humiliating punishment as a form of correcting or disciplining children or adolescents....” The prohibition comes into force in February 2008.

Schools

Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools under the 2007 law prohibiting corporal punishment (see above).

Penal system

Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime.

Corporal punishment is prohibited as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions under the 2007 law prohibiting corporal punishment (see above).

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is prohibited in alternative care settings under the 2007 law prohibiting corporal punishment (see above).

Workplace

Corporal punishment of children in situations of employment is prohibited under the 2007 law prohibiting corporal punishment (see above).

Prevalence research

None identified.

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

“The Committee, while recognising pending legislative amendments, regrets that article 16 of the Code on Childhood and Adolescence of 2004 allows for corporal punishment of children. The Committee is concerned over the lack of statistics on the number of reported cases and that corporal punishment continues to occur in the home as well as schools and child care institutions.

“The Committee recommends that the State party adopt pending legislation as soon as possible explicitly prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home. The State party should also take all measures to ensure the enforcement of the law, conduct capacity building of professionals working with children, carry out awareness raising and public education campaigns against corporal punishment and promote non-violent, participatory methods of childrearing and education, while taking due account of the General Comment No. 8 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to Protection from Corporal Punishment and Other Cruel or Degrading Forms of Punishment (2006).

“With reference to the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, the Committee recommends the State party to:

1. take all necessary measures for the implementation of the overarching and setting-specific recommendations contained in the report of the independent expert of the United Nations study on violence against children (A/61/299) while taking into account the outcome and recommendations of the regional consultation for Latin America held in Argentina between 30 May and 1 June 2005;
2. use these recommendations as a tool for action in partnership with civil society and in particular with the involvement of children, to ensure that every child is protected from all forms of physical, sexual and mental violence and to gain momentum for concrete and, where appropriate, time-bound actions to prevent and respond to such violence and abuse;
3. seek technical assistance from UNICEF, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the above mentioned purposes.”

(8 June 2007, CRC/C/URY/CO/2 Unedited Version, Concluding observations on second report, paras 36, 37 and 46)

“The Committee is deeply concerned about the increasing incidence of abuse and violence within the family and the inadequacy of measures to prevent and combat such abuse and violence, and to rehabilitate the child victims.

“The Committee suggests that measures be adopted by the State party to provide appropriate assistance to the family in the performance of its child-rearing responsibilities, with a view, inter alia, to preventing domestic violence and abuse, abandonment and institutionalization of children, and to promoting research in these areas.”
(30 October 1996, CRC/C/15/Add.62, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 13 and 21)