Is Time Running Out for Corporal Punishment under the ECHR?

Although there is a long line of ECHR case-law related to corporal punishment, the European Court of Human Rights has not, to date, ruled that the Convention requires an outright prohibition of corporal punishment. On the contrary, case-law to date has found that corporal punishment that falls short of the minimum threshold of severity associated with the right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment under art.3 does not violate the ECHR. This position is increasingly out of line with developments both in international law and in the domestic law of Council of Europe Member States, both of which routinely influence the reasoning of the Strasbourg Court. Three recent decisions have seen the Court make statements that suggest it may soon be ready to rule that the ECHR imposes a positive obligation to prohibit all corporal punishment; this article will explore those decisions and place them in the context of previous case-law and wider developments.