The Federal Council is proposing to Parliament to include in the Civil Code an article which “expressly obliges parents to educate their children without resorting to violence”. Last week, the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council validated this proposal by 21 votes to 3.
The majority believes that such regulation could have a deterrent effect and promote violence-free education in the country. “The inclusion of this principle in the law establishes a framework not only for parents, writes the commission, but also for consultation offices and social services, and highlights Switzerland’s commitment against violence in the ‘education.”
Certainly, current law already prohibits parents from using violence to educate their children. Criminal law, like civil law, protects children against family violence. The Federal Council and Parliament now wish to expressly enshrine the principle of education without violence in law, following a motion by Christine Bulliard-Marbach (C/FR).
-For the Federal Council, the new content of the Civil Code “plays the role of guiding principle and sends a clear signal to everyone: violence in education is not tolerated, whether it takes the form of corporal punishment or other degrading treatment for the child.
The Federal Council, however, emphasizes that parents must remain autonomous. It does not prescribe a method of education. Except to say that violence has no place there.
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