Page 96 - KDU Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2

KDU Law Journal Volume 04 Issue II
September, 2024
educational actions. Further, the CRC Article 28, paragraph 2 refers
to school discipline and requires States parties to “take all appropriate
measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner
consistent with the child’s human dignity and in conformity with the
present Convention.”

Regional human rights mechanisms have also started condemning
CP since 1970. The European Court of Human Rights has issued a
series of judgments that have increasingly denounced the practice
of CP of children. The court initially criticized CP in the penal
system, and then later in schools, including private schools. Most
recently, the court condemned CP in the home. The European
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Committee of Social Rights, which oversees the compliance of
Council of Europe member states with the European Social Charter
and Revised Social Charter, has determined that adherence to
the Charters necessitates the prohibition of any form of violence
against children. This prohibition must be enshrined in legislation,
and must apply to all settings, including schools, institutions,
homes, and other locations. 9

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has
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provided a definition of CP which states the following.
“The Committee defines “corporal” or “physical” punishment as
any punishment in which Physical force is used and intended to cause
some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. Most involves hitting
(“smacking”, “slapping”, “spanking”) children, with the hand or with
an implement - a whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc. But it can also

8 Tyrer v UK (1978) 4 WLUK 119 https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/docx/
pdf?library=ECHR&id=001-57587&filename=CASE%20OF%20TYRER%20v.%20THE%20
UNITED%20KINGDOM.pdf accessed 1 April 2023.
9 Council of Europe, Eliminating Corporal Punishment: A Human Rights Imperative for
Europe’s Children (Council of Europe Publishing, 2005) http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_
Rights/Esc/ accessed 1 April 2023.
10 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No 8: The Right
of the Child to Protection from Corporal Punishment and Other Cruel or Degrading Forms
of Discipline (2006) CRC/C/GC/8.
law.faculty@kdu.ac.lk
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