President Macron and French children, whom from now on spanking is forbidden by the French Civil Code
As RFI notes, France became the 56th country in the world to fully prohibit corporal punishment of children. The new law banning 'ordinary educational violence' (violences éducatives ordinaires / VEO) has been dubbed the 'anti-spanking' law in the press and in common parlance, although it concerns not only traditional spanking on the bottom, but also slaps, cuffs, as well as shouting, threats and any humiliating remarks directed at children.
The law adopted by parliament is an amendment to Article 371-1 of the French Civil Code. This article on parental rights and duties is read out in French town halls when registering a marriage. From now on, the article is supplemented with a phrase stating that 'parental authority is exercised without physical or psychological violence'.
In parliament, the symbolic legislative amendment was signed by centrists, the ruling party 'En Marche!', the far-left 'La France Insoumise' and the Communists. The initiative was unconditionally supported by the government. The National Assembly approved the ban on parental violence in November 2018, and now the Senate has supported the 'anti-spanking' law.
The parliamentary rapporteur for the bill, MP from the centrist MoDem party Maud Petit, noted that 'the hardest part is only just beginning'. Now it is necessary to ensure the implementation of the law, which is purely educational in nature and is not accompanied by any sanctions. The ban on parental violence in any form should make adults think, change their mentality and behavior, notes the newspaper Le Parisien. 'I am convinced that the French have changed a lot and are increasingly less using educational measures associated with violence,' says MP Maud Petit.
However, the non-governmental Children's Foundation (Fondation pour l'Enfance) claims that still 85% of French people resort to educational measures that are now banned.
The amendment to the Civil Code – besides its educational and symbolic significance – may still have quite concrete legal consequences. Violence against minors is punishable under Article 222-13 of the French Penal Code. For actual cruelty, a parent or guardian can face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 75,000 euros.
Different is the case of traditional spanking, cuffs or shouting. In these cases, as Le Parisien reminds, the court is guided by established case law and the concept of the 'right to (parental) punishment', dating back to the Civil Code of 1804. The newspaper notes that in 2014, a French court acquitted a father who had beaten his son with a switch and given him a 'paternal' kick in the rear. The Court of Appeal considered that a parent is entitled for educational purposes to 'use force' – 'moderately and in accordance with the child's age', if such measures do not have physical consequences for the offspring.
Case law of the 2000s provided for the 'right to punishment' not only for parents but also for teachers or nannies.
The ban on corporal punishment and any form of parental violence against children was supported by Health Minister Agnès Buzyn, who recalled that in 2017 alone, nearly 48,000 minors in France were victims of domestic violence, abuse or were abandoned by their parents. About 70 children die each year in the country from family violence, the minister is quoted by Le Monde.
MP Maud Petit notes that France signed the International Convention on the Rights of the Child 29 years ago. Article 19 of this agreement provides for a complete ban on corporal punishment. The UN has four times officially demanded that France legislatively ban these harmful practices everywhere – including in the family.
Sweden fully banned corporal punishment back in 1979. In Europe, the UK, Italy, Belgium and the Czech Republic have not yet adopted such a ban. Kosovo legislatively beat France by banning corporal punishment of children a few days earlier – on June 27.
The French parliament had already adopted a symbolic amendment to the Civil Code banning all violence against children in 2016. However, in January 2017, it was overturned by the French Constitutional Council on purely procedural grounds: the amendment was approved as part of a bill to which it was not directly related.