Source: http://endcorporalpunishment.org/progress/country-reports/st-vincent-and-the-grenadines.html
Timestamp: 2017-03-28 12:02:16
Document Index: 89711361

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 2', 'art. 29', 'art. 140', 'art. 34', 'art. 36', 'art. 3']

St Vincent and the Grenadines country report - Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
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The Domestic Violence Act 2015 was promulgated in November 2016 and repeals the Domestic Violence (Summary Proceedings) Act 1995. Article 2 of the Act defines domestic violence as “any controlling or abusive behavior that harms the health, safety or well-being of a person or any child and includes but is not limited to the following: (a) physical abuse or threats of physical abuse; (b) sexual abuse or threats of sexual abuse; (c) emotional, verbal or psychological abuse…” and physical abuse as “any act of assault”. Like the 1995 Act, it does not criminalise domestic violence but provides that if a protection order is breached then criminal sanctions apply. It does not protect children from all violent punishment by parents.
As part of an initiative to reform child laws in the region, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) circulated a number of draft laws for consideration by member states, including St Vincent and the Grenadines. As originally drafted, the Children (Care and Adoption) Bill 2007 would protect children from “abuse” but not prohibit corporal punishment. It would define parental responsibility with reference to the duties, authority, rights and obligations “which by any law in force in [Saint Vincent and the Grenadines], the parent of a child has in relation to that child” (art. 2). In 2014, UNICEF reported that St Vincent and the Grenadines had “enacted the model Child Care and Protection Bill without amendment”,[1] but we have yet to verify this information. The Government reported to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2017 that a National Child Protection Policy Framework (2015 – 2020) was launched in 2016;[2] we have not seen the full text but there are no indications that prohibition of corporal punishment is included in the Policy Framework.
Corporal punishment is lawful in alternative care settings under the right to administer “reasonable” punishment in article 8 of the Juveniles Act. The Adoption of Children Act 1959 and Rules 1959 are silent on the issue. Corporal punishment would not be explicitly prohibited by the OECS draft Children (Care and Adoption) Bill, which in its original form stated that a person authorised to provide care for a child shall “correct and manage the behaviour of the child” (art. 29(c)) and authorises the Minister to make regulations for “the management and discipline of an approved child care service” (art. 140(2)(m)).
Corporal punishment is lawful in early childhood care and in day care for older children under the right to administer “reasonable” punishment in article 8 of the Juveniles Act. As originally drafted by the OECS in 2007, the Children (Care and Adoption) Bill would not prohibit corporal punishment (see “Alternative care settings”).
Corporal punishment is lawful in schools under article 8 of the Juveniles Act 1952 (see under “Home”) and article 53 of the Education Act 2005, which states: “(1) Subject to subsections (7) and (8), corporal punishment may be administered to a student at a school but only – (a) in accordance with section (2); and (b) if no other punishment is considered suitable or effective in the particular case. (2) Corporal punishment shall only be administered – (a) by the principal or deputy principal or a teacher specifically designated by the principal for the purpose; (b) in the principal’s office or other private room in the school; (c) using an instrument prescribed by the regulations; and (d) in conformity with any written guidelines issued by the Chief Education Officer. (3) Where corporal punishment is administered an entry shall be made in a punishment book which is to be kept in each school for the purpose of indicated the nature and extent of the punishment and the reasons for administering it….” Sections (4) to (7) punish the administration of corporal punishment contrary to the rules, including its infliction on a girl by a male and its infliction on a student whose parent has objected in writing to such punishment. Sections (8) and (9) make provision for the Minister to suspend or abolish corporal punishment in schools.
Corporal punishment is also authorised for males in the Prisons Act (art. 34), up to 10 strokes for a young prisoner, 18 for older prisoners, inflicted according to the Prison Rules and attended by the medical officer (art. 36).[3]
A Child Justice Bill drafted in 2007 by the OECS was sent to the Attorney General. As originally drafted it would not prohibit corporal punishment in penal institutions.
The Criminal Code provides for corporal punishment of males, stating in section 23 that it must be administered in accordance with the provisions in the Corporal Punishment of Juveniles Act.[4] The Corporal Punishment of Juveniles Act provides for caning of a male juvenile offender (under 16), up to 12 strokes, to be “administered privately, on the buttocks, with a light rod or cane of birch or tamarind or other twig” (arts. 5, 6 and 7). The punishment may be ordered by any court before which a juvenile offender is convicted of certain offences, “in lieu of, or in addition to, dealing with him in any other manner in which the court has power to deal with him” (art. 3). It is reportedly inflicted on the bare buttocks, usually by a policeman at a police station.[5]
As originally drafted by the OECS, the Child Justice Bill would not include corporal punishment among permitted sentences but would not explicitly prohibit it. In April 2014, the Bill was under discussion in the context of the OECS Juvenile Justice Reform Project, with a view to revising it before presentation to Parliament.[6] In 2016, during the Universal Periodic Review of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Government reported that an amendment proposed in the drafted Child Justice Bill “addressed alternative forms of punishment and rewards using restorative practices and diversion for juveniles in conflict with the law”, but it did not address the status or progress of the Bill.[7] Reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 2017, the Government stated that the Child Justice Bill would be tabled in Parliament “soon”.[8]
St Vincent and the Grenadines was examined in the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2011 (session 11). The following recommendations were made:[9]
St Vincent and the Grenadines was examined in the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2016 (session 25). During the dialogue, Uruguay expressed concern that corporal punishment of children remained legal in all environments and asked about planned steps to align legislation with the recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.[10] The following recommendations were made:[11]
The Government “noted” the recommendations.[12]
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding ObservationsSession 074 (2017)(3 February 2017, CRC/C/VCT/CO/2-3, Concluding observations on second-third report, Advance unedited version, paras. 32, 33, 64 and 65)“The Committee remains deeply concerned that corporal punishment is legally permitted and widely practised in all the settings.
(a) Explicitly prohibit through legislative and administrative provisions the use of corporal punishment in all settings, namely in schools, child care institutions, including early childhood care institutions, alternative care settings, in the home and in the administration of justice;
(b) Sensitize parents, professionals working with children and the public in general to the harm caused by corporal punishment and promote positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline;
(c) Seek technical assistance from UNICEF in this regard, including on the Child Friendly School programming.
“The Committee notes that laws on administration of juvenile justice are currently under revision which is expected to be completed in 2018. The Committee is concerned that:
(c) The Corporal Punishment of Juveniles Act has not been amended and allows the caning of children who have been found guilty of crime;
“In the light of its general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice, the Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and other relevant standards through the process of the ongoing harmonization process. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to:
(a) Facilitate the adoption by the Parliament of the Child Justice Bill (OECS Model Bill) which defines children as those under 18 years of age and sets the minimum age for criminal responsibility at 12 years of age;
(b) Enact legislation explicitly prohibiting life imprisonment without release or parole and corporal punishment as a sentence for any offence committed while the offender was under 18 years of age and regularly review the sentences imposed upon children under 18 years of age for early release”Read more from Session 074 (2017)Session 030 (2002)(13 June 2002, CRC/C/15/Add.184, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 28, 29, 52 and 53)"The Committee is deeply concerned that corporal punishment is widely practised in schools, in the administration of justice, in other institutions and within the family, and that it is regulated by law and used against children from an early age.
f) urgently prohibit the corporal punishment of children in the context of the juvenile justice system…."Read more from Session 030 (2002) Human Rights Committee, Concluding ObservationsHRC session 086 (2006)(24 April 2008, CCPR/C/VCT/CO/2, Concluding observations in the absence of a report, para. 11)"While noting the delegation’s statement that judicial corporal punishment is not resorted to in practice, the Committee is concerned that the Corporal Punishment of Juveniles Act still permits caning, in violation of the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment contained in article 7.
The State party should immediately amend or repeal the Corporal Punishment of Juveniles Act so as to prohibit caning. It should also consider whether it is any longer necessary, or consistent with its obligations under the Covenant, to maintain in force the relevant savings clause of section 10 of the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the State Party."Read more from HRC session 086 (2006) Prevalence/attitudinal research for St Vincent and the Grenadines in the last 10 yearsA UNICEF study of child vulnerability in Barbados, St Vincent and St Lucia, completed in November 2006, found that younger girls and boys were much more likely to be punished than their teenage siblings in all three countries. The number of small children who received no punishment was below 50% in all countries. Overall, younger children, both girls and boys, were more likely to be subjected to corporal punishment, such as spanking, slapping or hitting with the hand or an object.
[2] 25 January 2017, CRC/C/VCT/Q/2-3/Add.1, Reply to the list of issues, paras. 1-4
[3] MacClure, E. (2013), Register of Laws: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, USAID
[4] MacClure, E. (2013), Register of Laws: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, USAID
[5] Human Rights Association (2002), NGO Initial Report on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines submitted to the United National Committee on the Rights of the Child, p. 27
[6] UNICEF (2014), Terms of Reference: Consultancy to Facilitate the adoption of the Juvenile Justice Bill for the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, OECS Juvenile Justice Reform Project
[7] 8 July 2016, A/HRC/33/5, Report of the working group, para. 48
[8] 25 January 2017, CRC/C/VCT/Q/2-3/Add.1, Reply to the list of issues, para. 33
[9] 11 July 2011, A/HRC/18/15, Report of the working group, paras. 79(9) and 79(10)
[10] 8 July 2016, A/HRC/33/5, Report of the working group, para. 71
[11] 8 July 2016, A/HRC/33/5, Report of the working group, paras. 80(82), 80(83), 80(84)
[12] 9 September 2016, A/HRC/33/5/Add.1, Report of the working group: Addendum, para. 13
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