juvenile justice and all forms of alternative care . But it should be made explicitly clear that the criminal law provisions on assault also cover all corporal punishment , including in the family . This may require an additional provision in the criminal code of the State party . But it is also possible to include a provision in the civil code or family law , prohibiting the use of all forms of violence , including all corporal punishment . Such a provision emphasizes that parents or other caretakers can no longer use any traditional defence that it is their right (
reasonably
or moderately ) to use corporal punishment if they face prosecution under the criminal code . Family law should also positively emphasize that parental responsibility includes providing appropriate direction and guidance to children without any form of violence . . The principle of equal protection of children and adults from assault , including within the family , does not mean that all cases of corporal punishment of children by their parents that come to light should lead to prosecution of parents . The de minimis principle - that the law does not concern itself with trivial matters - ensures that minor assaults between adults only come to court in very exceptional circumstances ; the same will be true of minor assaults on children . States need to develop effective reporting and referral mechanisms . While all reports of violence against children should be appropriately investigated and their protection from significant harm assured , the aim should be to stop parents from using violent or other cruel or degrading punishments through supportive and educational , not punitive , interventions .
. Childrens dependent status and the unique intimacy of family relations demand that decisions to prosecute parents , or to formally intervene in the family in other ways , should be taken with very great care . Prosecuting parents is in most cases unlikely to be in their childrens best interests . It is the Committees view that prosecution and other formal interventions ( for example , to remove the child or remove the perpetrator )