Torture, Inhumanity and Degradation Under Article 3 of the ECHR

Torture, Inhumanity and Degradation Under Article 3 of the ECHR PDF

Author: Natasa Mavronicola

Publisher: Hart Publishing

Published: 2022-10-20

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1509942424

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This book theorises and concretises the idea of 'absolute rights' in human rights law with a focus on Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It unpacks how we might understand what an 'absolute right' in human rights law is and draws out how such a right's delimitation may remain faithful to its absolute character. From these starting points, it considers how, as a matter of principle, the right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment enshrined in Article 3 ECHR is, and ought, to be substantively delimited by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Focusing on the wrongs at issue, this analysis touches both on the core of the right and on what some might consider to lie at the right's 'fringes': from the aggravated wrong of torture to the severity assessment delineating inhumanity and degradation; the justified use of force and its implications for absoluteness; the delimitation of positive obligations to protect from ill-treatment; and the duty not to expel persons to places where they face a real risk of torture, inhumanity or degradation. Few legal standards carry the simultaneous significance and contestation surrounding this right. This book seeks to contribute fruitfully to efforts to counter a proliferation of attempts to dispute, circumvent or dilute the absolute character of the right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to offer the groundwork for transparently and coherently (re)interpreting the right's contours in line with its absolute character. Winner of the 2022 SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship.

Coercive Human Rights

Coercive Human Rights PDF

Author: Laurens Lavrysen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 1509937889

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Traditionally, human rights have protected those facing the sharp edge of the criminal justice system. But over time human rights law has become increasingly infused with duties to mobilise criminal law towards protection and redress for violation of rights. These developments give rise to a whole host of questions concerning the precise parameters of coercive human rights, the rationale(s) that underpin them, and their effects and implications for victims, perpetrators, domestic legal systems, and for the theory and practice of human rights and criminal justice. This collection addresses these questions with a focus on the rich jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The collection explores four interlocking themes surrounding the issue of coercive human rights: First, the key threads in the doctrine of the ECtHR on duties to mobilise the criminal law as a means of delivering human rights protection. Secondly, the factors that contribute to a readiness to demand coercive measures, including discrimination and vulnerability, and other key justificatory reasoning shaping the development of coercive human rights. Thirdly, the most pressing challenges for the ECtHR's coercive duties doctrine, including: - how it relates to theories and rationales of criminalisation and criminal punishment; - its implications for the fundamental tenets of human rights law itself; - its relationship to transitional justice objectives; and - how (far) it coheres with the imperative of effective protection for persons in precarious or vulnerable situations. Fourthly, the (prospective) evolution of the coercive human rights doctrine and its application within national jurisdictions.

Dignity, Degrading Treatment and Torture in Human Rights Law

Dignity, Degrading Treatment and Torture in Human Rights Law PDF

Author: Elaine Webster

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-12-09

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 9780367894290

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Although scholars have shown longstanding interest in the boundaries of interpretation of the right not to be subjected to torture and other prohibited harm, the existing body of work does not sufficiently reflect the significance of the interpretive scope of degrading treatment. This book argues that the degrading treatment element of the right is a crucial site of analysis, in itself and for understanding the parameters of the right as a whole. It addresses how, methodologically, the scope of meaning and application of the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment should best be identified and considers the implications thereof. It systematically examines the diverse aspects of degrading treatment's scope, from foundations of legal interpretation to the drivers of humiliation. It draws on wide-ranging literature and extensive analysis of more than 1,500 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which has pioneered the right's interpretive growth. The book aims to explore how the interpretive possibilities, and limits, of the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment turn upon the axes of human dignity and state responsibility, and aims to show how this right's protection can be achieved as well as limited through processes of interpretation. Dignity, Degrading Treatment and Torture in Human Rights Law provides interpreters with analytical tools to advance the application of the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in international, regional and domestic human rights law. It will appeal to all who have an interest in understanding the right's meaning, development, and potential scope of application, as well as those with an interest in methodologies of human rights interpretation.

The Principle of Non-Refoulement under the ECHR and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Principle of Non-Refoulement under the ECHR and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment PDF

Author: Eman Hamdan

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2016-06-02

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9004319395

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This book examines the protection against refoulement under the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention against Torture. It provides a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the non-refoulement case-law of both the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee against Torture.

Can Human Rights Survive?

Can Human Rights Survive? PDF

Author: Conor Gearty

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-05-18

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 131645052X

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In this set of three essays, originally presented as the 2005 Hamlyn Lectures, Conor Gearty considers whether human rights can survive the challenges of the war on terror, the revival of political religion, and the steady erosion of the world's natural resources. He also looks deeper than this to consider the fundamental question: How can we tell what human rights are? In his first essay, Gearty asks how the idea of human rights needs to be made to work in our age of relativism, uncertainty and anxiety. In the second, he assesses how the idea of human rights has coped with its incorporation in legal form in the UK Human Rights Act, arguing that the record is much better and more democratic than many human rights enthusiasts allow. In his final essay, Gearty confronts the challenges that may destroy the language of human rights for the generations that follow us.

Preventing Torture

Preventing Torture PDF

Author: Malcolm David Evans

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 522

ISBN-13:

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In the 19th century the prohibition of judicial torture was celebrated as a triumph of civilisation. But in the aftermath of the 2nd World War it was necessary for the International community to re-emphasise, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its abhorrence of torture: theproscription of torture became part of international customary law. But torture by agents of contemporary states persists, not least in the heart of Europe where reliance on the use of custody is growing once again. This pathbreaking documentary and empirical study - of a kind rarely undertaken inthe field of international human rights law - considers in detail the work of the latest actor on the international stage attempting to prevent torture. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the CPT), established in 1989, represents anew phase in international human rights intervention. The Council of Europe member states have given a Strasbourg-based Committee of experts an almost unfettered hand to examine their places of custody and report on what they find. The authors, an international lawyer and a criminologist, bringtheir different analytical perspectives to bear on this innovative human rights mechanism. The authors consider the nature of torture in the late 20th century and, given the pervasive culture of denial, the difficulties in combating it. They argue that utilitarian justifications for torture lurkjust beneath the surface of modern liberal democratic state practice. They describe the background to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, examine the text and the modus operandi of the Committee, set the CPT's standards against those of other international bodies and discuss howthe work of the Committee should best be carried forward in an enlarged and increasingly diverse European community of nations.

Courting Gender Justice

Courting Gender Justice PDF

Author: Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-02-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0190932848

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Women and the LGBT community in Russia and Turkey face pervasive discrimination. Only a small percentage dare to challenge their mistreatment in court. Facing domestic police and judges who often refuse to recognize discrimination, a small minority of activists have exhausted their domestic appeals and then turned to their last hope: the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR, located in Strasbourg, France, is widely regarded as the most effective international human rights court in existence. Russian citizens whose rights have been violated at home have brought tens of thousands of cases to the ECtHR over the past two decades. But only one of these cases resulted in a finding of gender discrimination by the ECtHR-and that case was brought by a man. By comparison, the Court has found gender discrimination more frequently in decisions on Turkish cases. Courting Gender Justice explores the obstacles that confront citizens, activists, and lawyers who try to bring gender discrimination cases to court. To shed light on the factors that make rare victories possible in discrimination cases, the book draws comparisons among forms of discrimination faced by women and LGBT people in Russia and Turkey. Based on interviews with human rights and feminist activists and lawyers in Russia and Turkey, this engaging book grounds the law in the personal experiences of individual people fighting to defend their rights.

Humiliation, Degradation, Dehumanization

Humiliation, Degradation, Dehumanization PDF

Author: Paulus Kaufmann

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-10-07

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9048196612

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Degradation, dehumanization, instrumentalization, humiliation, and nonrecognition – these concepts point to ways in which we understand human beings to be violated in their dignity. Violations of human dignity are brought about by concrete practices and conditions; some commonly acknowledged, such as torture and rape, and others more contested, such as poverty and exclusion. This volume collates reflections on such concepts and a range of practices, deepening our understanding of human dignity and its violation, bringing to the surface interrelationships and commonalities, and pointing to the values that are thereby shown to be in danger. In presenting a streamlined discussion from a negative perspective, complemented by conclusions for a positive account of human dignity, the book is at once a contribution to the body of literature on what dignity is and how it should be protected as well as constituting an alternative, fresh and focused perspective relevant to this significant recurring debate. As the concept of human dignity itself crosses disciplinary boundaries, this is mirrored in the unique range of perspectives brought by the book’s European and American contributors – in philosophy and ethics, law, human rights, literature, cultural studies and interdisciplinary research. This volume will be of interest to social and moral philosophers, legal and human rights theorists, practitioners and students.