{"id":3172,"date":"2018-01-17T11:35:44","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T11:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.endcorporalpunishment.net\/?page_id=3172"},"modified":"2025-03-13T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T16:31:56","slug":"crc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/endcorporalpunishment.org\/human-rights-law\/crc\/","title":{"rendered":"Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)<\/h2>\n\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
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Ratification of the CRC<\/em><\/h4><\/div>

The UN\u00a0Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a> is the primary human rights instrument for children. It has been ratified or acceded to by 196 states (November 2019, all except for the USA).<\/p>

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Relevant articles<\/em><\/h4>

The obligation to prohibit all corporal punishment of children falls directly under articles 19, 28(2) and 37 of the Convention.<\/p><\/div>

Art. 19: \u201c(1) States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Art. 28(2): \u201cStates Parties shall 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.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Art. 37: \u201cStates Parties shall ensure that: (a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>

Article 4 of the Convention emphasises that its implementation necessitates legislative as well as non-legislative measures.<\/p>

Art. 4: \u201cStates Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12 are regarded as the four general principles underlying implementation of the Convention, providing respectively for non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the child\u2019s right to life, survival and development, and respect for the views of the child.<\/p>

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General Comments adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child<\/em><\/h4>

The primary reference for the Committee\u2019s interpretation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to corporal punishment of children is its General Comment No. 8 (2006) on \u201cThe right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment (arts. 19; 28, para. 2; and 37, inter alia)\u201d. This text consolidates the Committee\u2019s position on corporal punishment of children in the context of its work on the issue and of other international and regional human rights standards, confirms the obligation on states parties to the Convention to reform their laws to prohibit it and provides a benchmark by which to assess whether or not prohibition has been achieved. For example:<\/p><\/div>