The government today (30) approved the amendment to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code for the banning of all corporal or physical punishments in all spheres.
The Cabinet granted approval to the joint resolution by the President along with the Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister in order to take the necessary measures to amend both the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, including provisions for banning all corporal or physical punishments in all sectors.
The civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of a child have been emphasized by the Child Rights Convention, to which Sri Lanka is also a partner.
Statute 19(1) of the Child Rights Convention emphasizes that the government stakeholders shall take all appropriate legal, administrative and educational measures in order to protect a child under the protection of either parents, legitimate guardians or another person from causing all types of corporal, physical or mental violence, injuries or abuse, discrimination or negligence or disregard, differently treating or exploitation etc., including sexual exploitation.
Taking to ‘X’, President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the Cabinet has approved amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit corporal punishment in all spheres.
Pointing out that UNCRC Article 19 urges protection against all forms of violence towards children, he said the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in General Comment No. 8, stresses that corporal punishment must be prohibited in all settings.
President Wickremesinghe further said that the Cabinet approval paves the way for legal protections to ensure that no child in Sri Lanka suffers physical or mental violence, aligning with the government’s commitment to safeguard the rights and well-being of every child.
The President added that the measures have been taken in view of the ‘International Day to End Corporal Punishment’, which is commemorated on April 30.