The abolition of corporal punishment in Malta as a key strategy for securing the child’s welfare – a comparative study and suggestions

Abstract

The study conducted in this thesis is about the abolition of Corporal Punishment. The study seeks to answer the question as to whether the Maltese child law is or could be complete without a full abolition of corporal punishment. During the five chapters, the study will focus on what is corporal punishment and why it is harmful to the child. Also it will seek to answer why after all this is also a state issue and not just a family law problem. It will define why states should do their utmost to ban all forms of corporal punishment as soon as possible. Since this study is about Malta and the Maltese system, two of these chapters will mainly focus on the position in Malta. The position of Malta before the amendment which abolished corporal punishment and the position of Malta after the amendment of Act III of 2014. Since this is a very recent amendment, it was still very early to see and discuss the impact of such law in the Maltese law courts. The study will also focus on foreign laws, mainly the most important law, when it comes to protecting the rights of the child at international level, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As well as other foreign national laws and the way they have abolished corporal punishment in their system of laws. In the conclusion, possible suggestions and observations are made.