Civil Act Amendment Removing 'Disciplinary Authority' Passed by National Assembly... Prohibition of 'Corporal Punishment of Children'

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Corporal punishment of children by parents will be prohibited.

On the 8th, the Ministry of Justice announced that the amendment to the Civil Act, which deleted the disciplinary authority clause previously considered as the basis for parental corporal punishment, has passed the plenary session of the National Assembly.

Article 915 of the current Civil Act stipulates that guardians may impose necessary discipline for the protection or education of children, which was misinterpreted as legalizing parental corporal punishment and criticized for leading to child abuse.

Accordingly, the amendment clarified that corporal punishment of children is prohibited by deleting the disciplinary authority clause from the Civil Act. The same clause also stipulated that guardians could entrust children to reform or correctional institutions with the court's permission, but the amendment deleted this part as well.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "The prohibition of corporal punishment by parents against their children is the most fundamental norm to prevent child abuse," and added, "Considering that the Civil Act is the basic law of the judicial system, the passage of this bill in the National Assembly will serve as an opportunity to fundamentally improve awareness of corporal punishment and child abuse against children."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.