European Committee of Social Rights, 2017

OBSERVATIONS/DECISIONS ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF SOCIAL RIGHTS' CONCLUSIONS ON STATES EXAMINED IN 2017

Czech Republic

(October 2017, Follow-up to the Complaint No. 96/2013 - Association for the Protection of all Children (APPROACH) Ltd v. Czech Republic)

“The Committee concluded that Article 17 of the 1961 Charter had been violated on the ground that not all forms of corporal punishment that is likely to affect the physical integrity, dignity, development or psychological well-being of children, were prohibited.

“The Government states in the information registered on 31 October 2016 that in order to strengthen the protection of children under 15 years of age an amendment was made to Act No 200/1990 Coll., regulating contraventions, adopted in October 1, 2016. The amendment imposes an obligation to commence proceedings in a case of “an administrative delict or offence”, “ without a notice of motion” where the  affected person is a child younger than 15 years. According to the Government this legislative change will enable more efficient sanctioning of contraventions against children (for example for offences less serious than bodily harm of a child). It will cover inter alia cases of corporal punishment, verbal abuse, insulting or humiliation of a child. The law increases the penalties for these offenses. The imposed fine can reach up to CZK 20 000 (763€) and in case of a repeated offence within a year to 30 000 CZK (1140€).

“The Committee takes note of the developments in Czech law, which seek to strengthen the protection of children from forms of violence. However, the Committee considers that the above mentioned amendment does not amount to a complete prohibition of all forms of corporal punishment likely to affect the physical integrity, dignity, development or psychological well-being of children.

“Therefore the Committee finds that the situation has not been brought into conformity with the 1961 Charter.

“The Committee will next assess the situation on the basis of the information to be submitted in October 2019.”

Slovenia

(October 2017, Follow-up to the Complaint No. 96/2013 - Association for the Protection of all Children (APPROACH) Ltd v. Slovenia)

“The Committee concluded that Article 17 of the Charter had been violated on the ground that not all forms of corporal punishment that was likely to affect the physical integrity, dignity, development or psychological well-being of a child were prohibited.

“The Government amended two Acts in 2016 and included the explicit prohibition of all forms of punishment of children in domestic and other settings in national legislation.

“The explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in the domestic environment is included in the Act amending the Act on the prevention of domestic violence (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia (Uradni list RS) No. 68/2016), which entered into force in November 2016. Article 3a of the Act provides that:

‟1) Corporal punishment of children shall be strictly prohibited.

“2) Corporal punishment of children shall be considered as any physical, cruel or degrading punishment or any other act with the intention to punish children containing elements of physical, psychological or sexual violence or neglect as an educational method”.

“The explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in other contexts is included in the Act amending the Act on the organisation and financing of education (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia (Uradni list RS) No. 46/2016), which entered into force in July 2016.

“Article 2 of the Act provides that: “In accordance with the objectives set out in the preceding article, kindergartens, schools and other educational institutions for children and adolescents with special needs shall provide a safe and supportive learning environment where corporal punishment and any other form of violence against children or between children or any unequal treatment on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, social and cultural origin, religion, race, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental development shall be prohibited”.

“The government asserts that the violation of Article 17§1 of the Charter, as established in the decision on the collective complaint (No. 95/2013) and in the Committee’s conclusions has been remedied.

“In its decision, the Committee noted that the provisions of the impugned Family Violence Prevention Act and the Criminal Code referred to in the context of this complaint prohibited serious acts of violence against children, and that national courts sanctioned corporal punishment provided it reached a specific threshold of gravity. When corporal punishment failed to fulfil these criteria, it could nevertheless be dealt with as a minor offence. However, none of the legislation referred to by the Government set out an express and comprehensive prohibition on all forms of corporal punishment of children that was likely to affect their physical integrity, dignity, development or psychological well-being. Furthermore, there was nothing to establish that a clear prohibition of all corporal punishment of children had been set out in the case law of national courts.

“The Committee takes note of the positive developments and in particular of the two Acts, as amended in 2016, which explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children in all circumstances affecting the physical integrity, dignity, development or psychological well-being of a child, and therefore addressing the violation found by the Committee.

“The Committee finds that the situation has been brought into conformity with the Charter and decides to terminate the examination of the decision.”