Strasbourg--A top rights body ruled on Wednesday that France was in violation of a European treaty because it did not fully ban the smacking of children.
The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe said France's laws on corporal punishment for children were not "sufficiently clear, binding and precise".
France bans violence against children but does allow parents the "right to discipline" them.
However, French law does forbid corporal punishment in schools or disciplinary establishments for children.
More than half of the 47 members of the Council of Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, have completely banned smacking.
Other big European countries, such as Britain, either have similar laws to France or have not adopted concrete regulations on the issue.
Worldwide, 17 other countries have a complete ban on corporal punishment for children, notably in South America, Central America and Africa.
The Council of Europe was ruling on a complaint lodged by the Britain-based child protection charity Approach, which says that French law violates part of the European Social Charter, a treaty first adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996.
In May, the Green party in France tabled an amendment to a law on the family but it was eventually withdrawn.
AFP
