European Social Charter: The Association for the Protection of All Children submitted collective complaint against Italy

Following the failure of Italy to adopt the necessary domestic legislation prohibiting and penalising all forms of violence against children, the Association for the Protection of All Children (APPROACH) – an international non-governmental organization which enjoys participatory status within the Council of Europe – submitted on 4 February 2013 a collective complaint (n.94/2013) against the Italian government for non-compliance with art.17 (The right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection) of the European Social Charter (revised).

The APPROACH enjoys competence in submitting complaints in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of Collective Complaints and also aims to “prevent cruelty and maltreatment of children and advance public knowledge in all matters concerning the protection of children and young people from physical punishment and all other injurious, humiliating and/or degrading treatment” have also competence to

The complaint recalls that in past Italy has been made aware by the decision of the European Committee on Social Rights (ECSR) in Complaint No.34/2006 that in order to comply with the art 17 of the Charter, the relevant provisions of domestic law that prohibits corporal punishment of children “must be sufficiently clear, binding and precise, so as to preclude the courts from refusing to apply them to violence against children. Moreover, states must act with due diligence to ensure that such violence is eliminated in practice”. Also the Committee on the Rights of Child in 2011 reiterated its concern that “despite the Supreme Court ruling on prohibition of corporal punishment, Italy has not yet passed legislation explicitly prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment in all settings, including in the home (CRC/C/15/Add.41, para. 20), and recommends to reform the domestic legislation in that sense. In 2010 following the examination of Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Italy received the recommendation “to incorporate in its legislation the 1996 Supreme Court judgement that corporal punishment was not a legitimate method of discipline in the home, and criminalize corporal punishment in all cases, including in education”

Based on various researches that indicated a still existing corporal punishment of children in Italy and still non-confirmation in legislation of the corporal punishment prohibition, APPROACH is considering that Italy is violating the Art. 17 of the Charter and demands ECSR to declare this complaint admissible and without delay to issue a decision on the merits.

Last update

13/3/2013