Legal Reforms

Corporal Punishment of Children in the Family

These nations have abolished corporal punishment of children in the family:

Country	Law Enacted for Families
Sweden	1979
Finland	1983
Denmark	1997
Norway	1987
Austria	1989
Cyprus	1994
Croatia	1999
Latvia	1998
Israel	1999
Germany	2000
Bulgaria	2000
Iceland	2003
Romania	2004
Ukraine	2004
Hungary	2004
Greece	2006
Netherlands	2007
New Zealand	2007
Portugal	2007
Uruguay	2007
Venezuela	2007
Spain	2007
Costa Rica	2008
Republic of Moldova	2009
Luxembourg	2009

• The Council of Europe Committee on Social Rights has determined that court rulings in Italy (1996) prohibit all corporal punishment of children. A Supreme Court ruling prohibited corporal punishment in Nepal (2005). Neither court ruling is yet reflected in legislation.

• Belgium passed a new child protection law (2000). It is uncertain if the law calls for a complete ban on corporal punishment.

• The Swiss supreme court ruled in July 2003 that parents have a limited right to smack their children. Anything beyond an occasional smack will constitute a criminal offense the court said.

• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in January 2004 that parents have a limited right to use physical punishment. The court ruled as follows:
-The court did not strike down Sec. 43 in the criminal code, which allows physical punishment of children by parents and teachers.
-School corporal punishment in both public and private schools is banned, immediately because the Court removed the defense. Just as in the U.S. states that now prohibit school corporal punishment, teachers in Canada will still be able to use physical force to remove a student or prevent immediate threats of harm to person or property, but they can no longer be subjected to physical punishment.
-Parents may no longer spank, slap or otherwise use any corporal punishment on children under the age of two or older than 12. Such action would now fall under assault laws.
-Parents may still strike children ages 3 through 12, but may not hit with an object, such as a paddle, belt, switch, etc.
-Parents may not hit an age 3 to 12 child on the head or face under any circumstance.

List of countries prohibiting corporal punishment in schools

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Belarus Belgium Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon Canada Chad China Congo, Republic of Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Denmark Djibouti Dominican Republic DR Congo Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Fiji Finland Gabon Georgia Germany

Greece Greenland Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland Iran, Islamic Rep. of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao PDR Latvia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malawi Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Micronesia, Fed. States Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Namibia Netherlands New Zealand

Nicaragua Norway Oman Philippines Poland Portugal Republic of Moldova Romania Russian Federation San Marino Sao Tome & Principe Senegal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Suriname Sweden Switzerland Taiwan TFYR Macedonia Thailand Togo Tonga Turkmenistan UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Yemen Zambia

Updated January, 2010

Source: End All Corporal Punishment of Children

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