The Cabinet approved an amendment Tuesday banning parents from inflicting corporal punishment upon their own children, an effort intended to curb child abuse at home in light of recent high-profile cases where children were fatally mistreated in the name of discipline.

If passed by the ongoing regular Diet session, the amendment would take effect in April next year.

The ban on physical punishment would not only apply to parents but also to foster parents and welfare workers. The government is also eyeing a revision to the parental right to discipline guaranteed by the Civil Code within two years, amid long-standing criticism that the statute has been interpreted by some parents as giving a green light to corporal punishment that borders on abuse.