Ruling increases smacking pressure

The UK is lagging behind many other European countries by not
banning smacking, an alliance of children’s charities claimed this
week following a landmark ruling.

The Council of Europe, a political organisation to defend human
rights, ruled that previous Supreme Court judgements in Italy and
Portugal prohibit all corporal punishment in these countries,
including in the home, so 16 out of the 46 European nations now ban
smacking.

The Children Are Unbeatable! Alliance, that campaigns for children
to have the same legal protection against being hit as adults,
argues that the new ruling adds to the human rights pressure on the
UK, including two recommendations by the United Nations Committee
on the Rights of the Child, for clear legislation to give children
equal protection under assault laws.

The UK is a party to the European Social Charter, a Council of
Europe treaty, which requires any form of violence against children
to be banned by legislation.