Scotland should be doing more to protect children, a report by the United Nations has said.

It criticises the UK Government and the Scottish Executive for failing to protect children from violence and exploitation.

Save the Children Scotland (SCS) said the country had obligations under international treaties to safeguard children's rights.

But the executive defended its record and said a balance must be found between parental responsibility and child protection.

In September the executive abandoned plans to ban smacking children under the age of three.

The executive defended its record

The change was intended to clarify the law on child punishment and whether it was unreasonable to smack a child who may be too young to comprehend right from wrong.

But the idea of prosecuting parents for moderate physical punishment was rejected by MSPs.

Alison Davis, SCS director, said the UN first recommended in 1995 that the physical punishment of children should be banned.

She said: "The government did very little about this in Scotland until very recently and produced some proposals to limit the punishment of children.

"But it certainly doesn't meet international expectations, so we expect strong criticism in this area."

'Out on a limb'

"Nine of the European countries have actually gone ahead with the legislation.

"Germany is the most recent example of a country which has taken forward legislation, so we are out on a limb here."

Children living in Scotland should do so free of violence, she added.

However, Pauline McNeil MSP said the executive believed the present law adequately protected children.

'Positive parenting'

She said: "The parliament has taken the sensible approach to this and not criminalise ordinary parents.

"There has been no discussion about how difficult it is to be a parent and I believe that is what the parliament will do."

She said if passed, the Criminal Justice Bill would ban blows to the head, the use of implements and shaking children to further strengthen the law.

"Positive parenting is the way forward. You cannot look at children's rights in a vacuum, you have to look at the rights and responsibilities," the MSP said.

The report is authored by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, based in Geneva, Switzerland.