Consultation on the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill
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Tystiolaeth i’r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar gyfer craffu Cyfnod 1 Bil Plant (Diddymu Amddiffyniad Cosb Resymol) (Cymru) |
Evidence submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for Stage 1 scrutiny of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill |
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CADRP-592 |
CADRP-592 |
About you
Organisation: Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group
— Yes
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The principles of this Bill are compliant with, and will support the due regard obligation placed upon the Welsh Government through the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. The Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) and the Explanatory Memorandum reinforce that legislative changes are consistent to present obligations and commitments placed upon the Welsh Government.
The Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group fully supports the commitment to remove the defence of reasonable punishment and prevent the use of corporal punishment, and believes this will help achieve the stated aim of protecting children’s rights and offer the same protection in law as adults.
Article 19 of the UNCRC is clear in that Governments should ensure that children are properly cared for, and protected from violence, abuse and neglect by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.
Article 37 of the UNCRC calls on Governments to prohibit cruel treatment and punishment. Corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment are forms of violence and states must take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to eliminate them.
The preamble to the UNCRC also recalls that, in the Universal Declaration, the UN “has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance”.
Since it began examining States parties’ reports, the UN CRC Committee has consistently recommended prohibition of all forms of corporal punishment, in the family and other settings. The UN CRC Committee, in their 2016 state party examination of the progress the UK (including Wales) have made in implementing the UNCRC, were critical of the failure to implement previous recommendations to repeal existing legislation, with the most recent Concluding Observations calling on Governments to
“Prohibit as a matter of priority all corporal punishment in the family, including the repeal of all legal defences, such as ‘reasonable chastisement’”.
This followed the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group recommendation in our ‘alternative’ Civil Society report to the UN CRC Committee that the Welsh Government should
“Embrace its stated commitment to children’s rights and demonstrate leadership on this issue as a matter of urgency by promoting legislation to abolish the defence of reasonable chastisement in proceedings for assault on the child in Wales”
The Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in 2017 issued 7 Recommendations on prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings to the UK and devolved nations, reinforcing our calls that legal defences should be repealed as a matter of priority.
The recent Civil Society ‘alternative report’ (March 2019) on the UKs implementation of the UN Convention against Torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (UNCAT) covering the situation in England and Wales and launched in the Senedd in May 2019, also calls upon the UN CAT Committee to make recommendations following their current examination to legislate to prohibit all form of corporal punishment of children. (these are expected in May)
National Human Rights Institutions have also been clear and consistent in their messaging
The Equality and Human Rights Commission in their submission to inform the state party examination by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in March 2019 noted the ‘There is strong and consistent evidence of the harmful effects of physical punishment on children, (and that…) Children should be afforded more, not less, protection from violence than adults. Legal reform to protect children from all forms of physical punishment in all settings is an obligation under international human rights law’
The Children’s Commissioner for Wales fully supports the Government’s intention to give children the same protection in the law from assault as adults, noting on many occasions that the current defence in breach of their rights. In her written evidence to the CYPE Committee, the Commissioner ‘wholeheartedly welcomed the Bill’
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Yes. Legislation is necessary if the intentions of the Bill are to be fully achieved.
As successive UN Committees have made clear, the rights of children are presently being breached in respect of not having the same legal protections as adults. The message is presently confusing, appearing to condone physically punishing children whilst the Government attempts to put across an education package to parents which seeks alternative, positive and non-violent forms of approaches to parenting. A change in law would provide the necessary foundation from which education programmes can progress, built upon a clear and coherent narrative that hitting children is not acceptable and is a violation of a child’s human rights.
Presently, the law also fails to fully provide vulnerable children who are at risk with sufficient protection, and greater clarity in the law through the Bill should help to ensure that additional safeguards are in place.
A change through legislation will also align Wales with 54 states who have prohibited physical punishment, including the overwhelming majority of EU member states who have either prohibited (including Ireland) or progressing towards prohibition (including Scotland).
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill sets out the considerable work which the Welsh Government has done in the lead up to this Bill. We do not see any real barriers to implementing the Bill, and believe that this landmark piece of legislation will aid the present commitment towards further incorporation of the UNCRC in Wales
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
We do not see any real barriers to implementing the Bill with the Explanatory Memorandum setting out the considerations which the Welsh Government has given in advance to many of the issues.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The Welsh Government has given considerable attention to any possible consequences of repealing the defence of reasonable punishment through a change in law. Whist with any change in law, there may be unintended effects. The importance of monitoring the implementation of the legislation is therefore essential, and the role of the third sector, public bodies and other frontline services will be important in this respect.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
The Explanatory Memorandum provides the necessary detail in respect of the financial implications of the Bill. We do not have any additional points to make to the assessment undertaken.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Removing the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence acknowledges children’s status in Welsh society as equal holders of human rights. We are fully supportive of this legislative change and believe it will provide additional protections for children and young people throughout Wales, reinforcing the progress which is already being achieved towards the full incorporation of the UNCRC and realisation of children’s rights in Wales.
The Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group is a national alliance of non-governmental and academic agencies, tasked with monitoring and promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Wales. The Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group was established in 2002 and is facilitated by Children in Wales, the national umbrella organisation. Since 2002, the Group has worked with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and submitted civil society reports to inform successive UK State Party Examinations.
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Members of the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group are representatives of, and nominated by, non-governmental organisations and academics which are as follows - Barnardo’s Cymru, Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs - Aberystwyth University, Children in Wales, Children's Commissioner for Wales (observers), Equality and Human Rights Commission Wales (observers), NSPCC Wales/Cymru, Play Wales, Save the Children Wales, The Children’s Society, The Observatory on Human Rights of Children, UNICEF and the Welsh Local Government Association (observers)