protection from all corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment , in the family and in other settings .
. In its examination of reports , the Committee has noted that in many States there are explicit legal provisions in criminal and / or civil ( family ) codes that provide parents and other carers with a defence or justification for using some degree of violence in
disciplining
children . For example , the defence of lawful , reasonable
or moderate
chastisement or correction has formed part of English common law for centuries , as has a right of correction
in French law . At one time in many States the same defence was also available to justify the chastisement of wives by their husbands and of slaves , servants and apprentices by their masters . The Committee emphasizes that the Convention requires the removal of any provisions ( in statute or common - case law ) that allow some degree of violence against children ( e . g . reasonable
or moderate
chastisement or correction ) , in their homes / families or in any other setting . . In some States , corporal punishment is specifically authorized in schools and other institutions , with regulations setting out how it is to be administered and by whom . And in a minority of States , corporal punishment using canes or whips is still authorized as a sentence of the courts for child offenders . As frequently reiterated by the Committee , the Convention requires the repeal of all such provisions .
. In some States , the Committee has observed that while there is no explicit defence or justification of corporal punishment in the legislation , nevertheless traditional attitudes to children imply that corporal punishment is permitted . Sometimes these attitudes are reflected in court decisions ( in which parents or teachers or other carers have been acquitted of assault or illtreatment on the grounds that they were exercising a right or freedom to use moderate
correction ) . . In the light of the traditional acceptance of violent and humiliating forms of punishment of children , a growing number of States have