CRC/C/GC/24 70. In the Committee’s view, there should be lifelong protection from publication regarding crimes committed by children. The rationale for the non-publication rule, and for its continuation after the child reaches the age of 18, is that publication causes ongoing stigmatization, which is likely to have a negative impact on access to education, work, housing or safety. This impedes the child’s reintegration and assumption of a constructive role in society. States parties should thus ensure that the general rule is lifelong privacy protection pertaining to all types of media, including social media. 71. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that States parties introduce rules permitting the removal of children’s criminal records when they reach the age of 18, automatically or, in exceptional cases, following independent review. E. Measures6 Diversion throughout the proceedings 72. The decision to bring a child into the justice system does not mean the child must go through a formal court process. In line with the observations made above in section IV.B, the Committee emphasizes that the competent authorities – in most States the public prosecutor – should continuously explore the possibilities of avoiding a court process or conviction, through diversion and other measures. In other words, diversion options should be offered from the earliest point of contact, before a trial commences, and be available throughout the proceedings. In the process of offering diversion, the child’s human rights and legal safeguards should be fully respected, bearing in mind that the nature and duration of diversion measures may be demanding, and that legal or other appropriate assistance is therefore necessary. Diversion should be presented to the child as a way to suspend the formal court process, which will be terminated if the diversion programme is carried out in a satisfactory manner. Dispositions by the child justice court 73. After proceedings in full compliance with article 40 of Convention are conducted (see section IV.D above), a decision on dispositions is made. The laws should contain a wide variety of non-custodial measures and should expressly prioritize the use of such measures to ensure that deprivation of liberty is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. 74. A wide range of experience with the use and implementation of non-custodial measures, including restorative justice measures, exists. States parties should benefit from this experience, and develop and implement such measures by adjusting them to their own culture and tradition. Measures amounting to forced labour or to torture or inhuman and degrading treatment are to be explicitly prohibited and penalized. 75. The Committee reiterates that corporal punishment as a sanction is a violation of article 37 (a) of the Convention, which prohibits all forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (see also the Committee’s general comment No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment). 76. The Committee emphasizes that the reaction to an offence should always be proportionate not only to the circumstances and the gravity of the offence, but also to the personal circumstances (age, lesser culpability, circumstances and needs, including, if appropriate, the mental health needs of the child), as well as to the various and particularly long-term needs of the society. A strictly punitive approach is not in accordance with the principles of child justice spelled out in article 40 (1) of the Convention. Where serious offences are committed by children, measures proportionate to the circumstances of the offender and to the gravity of the offence may be considered, including considerations of the need for public safety and sanctions. Weight should be given to the child’s best interests as a primary consideration as well as to the need to promote the child’s reintegration into society. 6 12 See also section IV.B above.