France gets rap on knuckles over smacking children

A top rights body said Wednesday that France was in violation of a European treaty because it did not fully ban the smacking of children, reigniting debate over the divisive issue. The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe said France’s laws on corporal punishment for children were not “sufficiently clear, binding and precise”. France bans violence against children but does allow parents the “right to discipline” them. It forbids corporal punishment in schools and disciplinary establishments for children.

For abusive parents, we have a penal code. For those that occasionally resort to corporal punishment, we need to help them do things differently and not discredit them by saying ‘the judge is coming to deal with that’.

Laurence Rossignol, French minister for the family

The Council’s ruling was based a complaint lodged by Britain-based child protection charity Approach, which says that French law violates part of the European Social Charter, a treaty first adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996. More than half of the 47 members of the Council of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, have completely banned smacking. Britain and France have not. Polls show widespread support in Britain and France for the right to smack children.

Is this really the debate of the century? Stop it, there are more important subjects.

Luc Chatel, a former education minister for the opposition UMP party

Europe