Torture, Inhumanity and Degradation under Article 3 of the ECHR: Absolute Rights and Absolute Wrongs

This book explores the concept of "absolute rights" in human rights law, particularly focusing on Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It examines how the right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can be defined and limited while maintaining its absolute nature. The book discusses various aspects of the right, including the aggravated wrong of torture, the severity assessment, the justified use of force, positive obligations to protect, and the duty to prevent torture. It aims to contribute to efforts to uphold the absolute character of this right and provide a basis for transparent and coherent interpretation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

This open-access book theorizes and concretizes the concept 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 rights 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 rights '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 rights contours in line with its absolute character. Winner of the 2022 SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license on bloomsburycollections.com.

This open-access book theorizes and concretizes the concept 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 rights 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 rights '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 rights contours in line with its absolute character. Winner of the 2022 SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license on {URL}>

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509942428