CAT/C/GBR/CO/5 also recommends that the State party ban the use of any technique designed to inflict pain on children. Corporal punishment 29. The Committee takes note of amendments to legislation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which limit the application of the defence of “reasonable punishment” (or “justifiable assault” in Scotland), but remains concerned that some forms of corporal punishment are still legally permissible in the home by parents and those in loco parentis. In addition, it is concerned that some forms of corporal punishment are lawful in the home, schools and alternative care settings in almost all overseas territories and Crown dependencies. The Committee recommends that the State party prohibits corporal punishment of children in all settings in the Metropolitan territory, Crown dependencies and overseas territories, repealing all legal defences currently in place, and further promote positive non-violent forms of discipline via public campaigns as an alternative to corporal punishment. Immigration detention 30. The Committee notes that the expansion of immigration detention has prompted some reforms including the adoption of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act (2009), aimed at streamlining immigration processes; the official disavowal of child detention and revised processes for dealing with Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules. The Committee remains concerned at: (a) Instances where children, torture survivors, victims of trafficking and persons with serious mental disability were detained while their asylum cases were being decided; (b) Cases of torture survivors and people with mental health conditions entering the Detained Fast Track (DFT) system due to a lack of clear guidance and inadequate screening processes, and the fact that torture survivors need to produce “independent evidence of torture” at the screening interview to be recognized as unsuitable for the DFT system; (c) The absence of a limit on the duration of detention in Immigration Removal Centres (arts. 2, 3, 11 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that detention is used only as a last resort, in accordance with the requirements of international law, and not for administrative convenience; (b) Take necessary measures to ensure that vulnerable people and torture survivors are not routed into the Detained Fast Track System, including by: (i) reviewing the screening process for administrative detention of asylum seekers upon entry; (ii) lowering the evidential threshold for torture survivors; (iii) conducting an immediate independent review of the application of Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules in immigration detention, in line with the Home Affairs Committee’s recommendation and ensure that similar rules apply to short-term holding facilities and (iv) amending the 2010 United Kingdom Border Agency, Enforcement Instructions and Guidance, which allows for the detention of people with mental illness unless their mental illness is so serious that it cannot be managed in detention; (c) Introduce a limit for immigration detention and take all necessary steps to prevent cases of de facto indefinite detention. 11

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