Source: https://endcorporalpunishment.org/reports-on-every-state-and-territory/cayman-islands/
Timestamp: 2020-07-04 10:16:08
Document Index: 379104813

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 41', 'art. 3', 'art. 4', 'art. 7', 'art. 10', 'art. 64', 'art. 2', 'art. 30', 'art. 2', 'art. 30', 'art. 47']

Cayman Islands | Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
Country Report for Cayman Islands
Prohibition is still to be achieved in the home, some alternative care settings, day care and penal institutions.
The right of parents to administer “reasonable chastisement” is recognised under English common law and article 226(7) of the Penal Code confirms “the right of any parent, teacher or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer punishment to him.” These defences should be repealed and prohibition enacted of all corporal punishment by all persons with authority over children.
Alternative care settings – Legislation prohibits corporal punishment in community homes, children’s homes, voluntary homes and in state arranged foster care. Prohibition should now be enacted in relation to private foster care arrangements.
Day care – Corporal punishment is prohibited in early childhood care and education centres. This should be extended to all informal early childhood care provision and all day care for older children (day centres, after-school childcare, childminding, etc).
Penal institutions – Legislation should prohibit corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in all institutions accommodating children in conflict with the law. Provisions for corporal punishment in the Prison Rules should be repealed.
Note: The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory. As such, it has its own constitution and domestic laws and substantial responsibility for its internal affairs, including responsibility for the protection and promotion of human rights and a duty to ensure that local law complies with the relevant convention and court judgments and is non-discriminatory. The UK Government has responsibility for international relations, internal security, defence, good governance and the wellbeing of the people.[1]
Corporal punishment is lawful in the home under the English common law defence of “reasonable chastisement”. Articles 225 and 226 of the Penal Code (2013 Revision) punish cruelty to children under 16 years of age but article 226(7) states: “Nothing in section 225 shall be construed as affecting the right of any parent, teacher or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child to administer punishment to him.” This provision was also included in the Juveniles Law 1990 (art. 41(8)), but this Law was repealed by the Children Law (2012 Revision); the new Children Law does not refer to a right to “administer punishment” and it protects children from ill-treatment and abuse, but it does not prohibit all corporal punishment.
The Protection from Domestic Violence Law 2010 protects children from abuse, defining physical abuse as “any act or omission which causes or threatens physical injury” (art. 3), but it does not prohibit corporal punishment in childrearing.
In its 2014 state party report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UK Government states that it “does not condone any violence towards children and has clear laws to deal with it” but “our view is that a mild smack does not constitute violence”.[2] A similar statement was made to the Human Rights Committee in 2015.[3] The UK Government has on three occasions rejected recommendations to prohibit all corporal punishment of children made during the Universal Periodic Review of the UK (see below).
Recent law reform prohibited corporal punishment in some but not all alternative care settings. The Children Law (2012 Revision) provides for the Government in Cabinet to make regulations for the “control and discipline” of children in community homes (art. 4), voluntary homes (art. 7) and registered children’s homes (art. 10).
Corporal punishment is prohibited in community homes in the Community Homes Regulations 2012 (reg. 8): “(1) The responsible authority of a community home shall only apply those disciplinary measures within the home as are approved by the Department. (2) The following acts shall not be practised in a community home – (a) corporal punishment….” There are similar prohibitions in children’s homes (Registered Children’s Homes Regulations 2012, reg. 8) and in voluntary homes (Voluntary Homes Regulations 2012, reg. 8). All children’s homes must be registered (Children Law, art. 64).
According to regulation 5 of the Foster Placement (Children) Regulations 2012, a person approved by the Department as a foster parent will not have a child placed with him/her unless there is agreement with the matters and obligations listed in Schedule 2 of the Regulations, which includes the obligation “not to administer corporal punishment to any child placed with him”. However, there is no prohibition in the Children (Private Foster Care) Regulations 2012: corporal punishment of privately fostered children is lawful under the “reasonable chastisement” defence in English common law and the right “to administer punishment” in article 226(7) of the Penal Code (see under “Home”).
Corporal punishment is prohibited in early childhood care and education centres under article 23 of the Education Law 2016: “(1) Corporal punishment and acts which are cruel, inhumane or degrading to a student shall not be administered in any early childhood care and education centre. (2) Reasonable use of force is acceptable in an early childhood care and education centre for the purpose of preventing a student from doing, or continuing to cause danger, personal injury or death to, or damage to the property of, any person, including the relevant student, but use of force shall be necessary, reasonable and proportionate.” Early childhood care and education centres are defined by the Education Law 2016 as “an institution that provides early childhood care and education to children under compulsory school age for at least four hours per day and includes a private residence in which care is provided to three or more children not of the same family” (art. 2).
Corporal punishment remains lawful in informal early childhood care and in day care for older children under the “reasonable chastisement” defence in English common law and the right “to administer punishment” in article 226(7) of the Penal Code (see under “Home”). The Children Law (2012 Revision) regulates day care and childminding and does not prohibit corporal punishment in these settings.
Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools under article 26 of the Education Law 2016: “Corporal punishment and acts which are cruel, inhumane or degrading to a student shall not be administered in an educational institution.” The Law allows the use of “such force as is necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances for the purpose of preventing a student from doing, or continuing to do, any of the following - … prejudicing the maintenance of good order and discipline at the school or any educational activities or provision associated with the school” but clarifies that this “does not authorize anything to be done in relation to a student which constitutes the giving of corporal punishment” (art. 30(5)). Corporal punishment is defined as “the application of physical force in order to punish or correct a child, but does not include the application of force only to prevent personal injury to, or damage to or the destruction of property of, any person (including the child)” (art. 2).
The Education Law 2016 repealed the Education Law (2010 Revision) which allowed corporal punishment of pupils (art. 30) and the Education Modernisation Law 2009, which had included explicit prohibition but never came into force.[4]
There appears to be no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions. According to the Government’s fourth/fifth report to the Human Rights Committee, provisions for the court to order corporal punishment for offences against prison discipline were repealed in the Prisons (Amendment) Law (1998).[5] However, the Prison Rules (1999 Revision) provide for corporal punishment (art. 47): as at July 2016 it would appear that these Rules are still in force.[6] There is no prohibition of corporal punishment in the Children (Secure Accommodation) Regulations 2012.
Corporal punishment is unlawful as a sentence for crime. There is no provision for judicial corporal punishment in the Penal Code (2013 Revision), the Criminal Procedure Code (2014 Revision) or the Youth Justice Law (2005 Revision).
[2] [2014], CRC/C/GBR/5, Fifth state party report, annex, para. 11
[3] [n.d.], CCPR/C/GBR/Q/7/Add.1, Advance Unedited Version, Reply to list of issues, para. 161
[4] Law Revision Commissioner (2015), Consolidated Index of Laws and Subsidiary Legislation as at 5th August, 2015, Cayman Islands Government, http://www.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/12277808.PDF, accessed 18 February 2016
[5] 11 April 2000, CCPR/C/UKOT/99/5, Fourth/fifth state party report, para. 66
[6] http://www.mha.gov.ky/resources/laws-and-regs/, accessed 6 July 2016
The Government rejected the recommendations, stating that it sees no need for law reform since it believes the current law is working well, parents should be allowed to discipline children and surveys show that the use of corporal punishment in childrearing has declined.[2] It accepted the recognition to consider going beyond current legislation in relation to protecting children from violence but rejected “the implication that it is failing in this regard through the application of its policy on corporal punishment”.[3]
Examination in the second cycle of the UPR took place in 2012 (session 13). The following recommendations were made:[4]
The Government rejected the recommendations.[5]
The UK’s third cycle examination took place in 2017 (session 27). The following recommendations were made:[6]
The Government rejected all seven recommendations, stating: “the UK does not condone any violence towards children and has clear laws to deal with it. The ‘reasonable chastisement’ defence in s.58 Children Act 2004 cannot be used when someone is charged with assault causing actual or grievous bodily harm, or with child cruelty. Parents should not be criminalised for giving a child a mild smack in order to control their behaviour. The Crown Dependencies currently follow a similar approach to the UK. The decision on whether to prohibit corporal punishment and in what settings in the Overseas Territories is a decision, ultimately, for Territory governments. The UK Government is keen to support those Territories who wish to move away from the use of corporal punishment and explore alternative measures, including the development of positive parenting strategies and effective behaviour management techniques.”[7]
[2] 23 May 2008, A/HRC/8/25, Report of the working group, para. 25
[3] 25 August 2008, A/HRC/8/25/Add.1, Report of the working group: Addendum, paras. 28, 29 and 30
[4] 6 July 2012, A/HRC/21/9, Report of the working group, paras. 110(78), 10(79) and 110(80)
[5] 17 September 2012, A/HRC/21/9/Add.1, Report of the working group: Addendum, annex
[6] 8 May 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/L.7, Draft report of the working group, unedited version, paras. 6(193), 6(194), 6(195), 6(196), 6(197), 6(198) and 6(199)
[7] 7 September 2017, A/HRC/36/9/Add.1, Report of the working group: addendum, para. 3; see also 29 August 2017, Annex to the response to the recommendations received on 4 May 2017
Note: According to the UK’s 2014 Common Core Document[1], the following treaties apply in the Cayman Islands: the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Convention against Torture, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The European Social Charter does not apply.
(16 October 2000, CRC/C/15/Add.135, Concluding observations on initial report on Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, paras. 35, 36, 55 and 57)
(30 July 2013, CEDAW/C/GBR/CO/7, Concluding observations on seventh report of UK, paras. 34 and 35)
“The Committee … recalls its previous concluding observations (A/63/38, paras. 280 and 281) and is concerned that corporal punishment remains lawful in the home.
“Recalling its general recommendation No. 19, on violence against women, and its previous recommendation, the Committee urges the State party: ...
e) to revise its legislation to prohibit corporal punishment of children in the home.”
(18 July 2008, Part of A/63/38, Concluding observations on fifth/sixth report, paras. 280 and 281)
“... The Committee also notes with concern that corporal punishment is lawful in the home and constitutes a form of violence against children, including the girl child.
“The Committee urges the State party to accord priority attention to the adoption of comprehensive measures to address violence against women in accordance with its general recommendation No. 19 on violence against women.... The Committee further recommends that the State party include in its legislation the prohibition of corporal punishment of children in the home.”
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Only the UN Convention Against Torture, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights apply in the Cayman Islands.