The civil law will prohibit parents from corporal punishment of children. Zhong Ruilan, director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice, listed unacceptable discipline behaviors.

(Photo by reporter Qian Lizhong)

[Reporter Wu Zhengfeng/Taipei Report] Article 1085 of the Civil Law of our country stipulates that "parents may discipline their children within the necessary scope", which means that parents are given the right to discipline. However, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has prohibited "corporal punishment at home". The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently cooperated with the revision of the Civil Law. In the draft, the original article was changed to "Parents shall not engage in physical or mental violence against their children." In the future, whether it is physical punishment or psychological humiliation, it may be regarded as illegal. Stop parental authority, in order to prevent parents from being easily blamed, Zhong Ruilan, director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice, explained the boundaries of violence on the 22nd.

Zhong Ruilan explained that the so-called "violent behavior" will refer to Article 49 of the "Law on the Protection of the Welfare and Rights of Children and Adolescents" of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. range.

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Mental violence refers to psychological abuse, mental abuse, name-calling, emotional abuse or neglect, etc., such as: intimidation, threats, contempt, isolation, etc.; physical violence includes all corporal punishment and other forms of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading Treatment or punishment, or physical bullying and bullying from adults and other children, such as hitting, pinching, slapping, hair pulling, or kicking with bare hands or utensils.

Chen Mingtang, political deputy director of the Ministry of Justice, said that the current disciplinary power does not allow parents to inflict physical and mental violence on their children, but some parents misunderstand that, resulting in domestic violence in practice, in order to make the requirements more clear, this amendment is changed to "no "For physical and mental violence" allows parents to follow and complies with the Convention on Children's Rights. If the outside world has any comments on the draft, they can provide it to the Ministry of Justice for reference before April 13.

Huang Zhizhong, chief strategist of Boheng Law Firm, is positive about the revision of the law, pointing out that the amendment stipulates that parents have the right to discipline, and it has been affirmed that parents still have the right to discipline, but they cannot use violence; Huang Zhizhong believes that the law must evolve with the times, and parents must discipline their children The previous "authoritative" mentality should also be abandoned. Beating and scolding education may be effective in a short period of time, but it is not conducive to the long-term physical and mental development of children; however, he emphasized that the discipline methods of each family are different. .

Zhong Weihan, deputy director of Yongheng Law Firm, also believes that the law and the concept of parents should keep pace with the times, and replace censure and punishment with communication and concern. A small number of parents still have the traditional idea of ​​"if you don't fight, you won't succeed". However, in order to avoid parents being easily blamed, during the transition period after the law is amended, it is necessary to rely on the relevant units to do more publicity, so as to shorten the gap between the law and the actual situation.

Article 1085 of the current civil law stipulates that "parents may discipline their children within the necessary scope", which was revised to read "Parents should consider the age and development level of their children when protecting and cultivating their minor children, respect their personality, and must not engage in physical or mental violence against their children." Behavior".

The public can express their opinions on the "Public Policy Online Participation Platform" before April 13.