New Law on the fight againts harassment and violence in the school environment

Purpose

Law n° 1.513 of December 3, 2021 on the fight against harassment and violence in the school environment provides the Principality with a body of rules designed to identify, prevent, report, deal with and punish situations of harassment and violence in the school environment.

Definition of harassment in the school environment

Harassment in the school environment is the act of subjecting a student, in the context of the direct or indirect school environment, knowingly or unknowingly, and by any means whatsoever, including electronic communication, to repeated actions or omissions that have the purpose or effect of degrading the student's learning conditions or school life, resulting in an attack on his/her dignity, integrity, a feeling of fear, insecurity, distress, exclusion or a decrease in his/her sense of belonging to the educational institution or in his/her self-esteem, or in an alteration of his/her physical or mental health.

The law specifies that the direct or indirect school environment is characterized either because of the place, when the acts are committed within an educational establishment, in the vicinity of the latter or on the occasion of a school transport, or because of the quality of the victim, because the latter is a student in the same educational establishment as the perpetrator.

Definition of violence in the school environment

Violence in the school environment refers to any act of physical or psychological violence committed in the direct or indirect school environment.

Main means of fighting (outside liability proceedings before the Monegasque courts)

• Definition of a procedure for reporting and handling situations of harassment or violence;
• Drawing up a report on situations of harassment and violence within the Principality's public or private educational establishments, in particular by carrying out statistical and victimization surveys that are made public and accessible;
• Providing the public with a listening ear and advice, in particular by means of Internet sites or a dedicated telephone line;
• Awareness-raising and training activities for staff and students within the schools;
• Drawing up, within each public or private educational establishment in the Principality, a plan to prevent and fight against harassment and violence, including in particular the following elements:
  • measures to identify and prevent situations of harassment or violence in the school environment;
  • procedures for reporting situations of harassment and violence in the school environment;
  • measures to support and assist victims, perpetrators and witnesses of harassment or violence in the school environment;
  • educational and pedagogical measures likely to remedy or stop harassment or violence in the school environment or to prevent its recurrence;
•  Creation of a referent within each school, who will be the privileged interlocutor of victims, perpetrators and witnesses of harassment or violence in schools;
• Designation by sovereign ordinance of a Delegate for the fight against harassment and violence in educational establishments, who will be the privileged interlocutor within the National Education, Youth and Sports Department.

Establishing liabilities

For example, depending on the case and subject to the conditions being met, the following may be claimed:

• In the case of public or private establishments under contract, the liability of the State for lack of organization or functioning of the public education service;
• In the case of private establishments not under contract, the liability of the said establishment for lack of organization or functioning;
• The criminal liability of the perpetrator of the harassment or violence.