ABSTRACT

English law is found in the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The Scottish Law Commission had distinguished 'an ordinary smack by loving parents' from punishment with an implement. The Education Act 1997, which addressed the issue of school discipline and gave teachers the ability to use 'such force as is reasonable in the circumstances' simply did not pronounce on the issue of corporal punishment, although arguably the provision quoted legitimates it. Sweden was the first country to ban all corporal punishment of children in 1979. In 1987 Norway too outlawed the corporal punishment of children. Austria became the first non-Nordic country to outlaw corporal punishment, doing so in 1989 and by a unanimous vote. The law provides that the child must obey the instructions of his parents. Support for the child to be free from corporal punishment can be found also in international instruments which ante-date the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.