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- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Copyright
- © 2006 by The American Society of Comparative Law, Inc.
- ISSN
- 0002-919X
- eISSN
- 2326-9197
- DOI
- 10.1093/ajcl/53.4.743
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
AbstractWhile the prohibition on torture is uncontested in Western society, there seems to be a disagreement on what practices are actually prohibited. When juxtaposing the legal standards regulating behavior in interrogations in several legal systems, the striking differences become especially evident—differences which are often overlooked or misconceived.The recent attempts by the Department of Justice to define (and then redefine) torture in a ‘palatable’ manner should be read in this context. From a comparative standpoint it is clear that such efforts are, ab initio, doomed to fail in gaining international legitimacy. It is suggested that the legitimacy problem can be mitigated through proper analogies to the prevailing standards, and, of course, the irreplaceable public discourse, currently lacking in the U.S.
Journal
American Journal of Comparative Law – Oxford University Press
Published: Oct 1, 2005