Thursday 3 June 2010

Ticking Bomb: European Court Says you Still Can't Torture

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has found that there was a violation of article 3 of the European Convention (prohibition of torture) in a case where law enforcement authorities used the threat of torture in an attempt to extract information from a suspect about someone whose life was believed to be in danger. It is about a close as we can get to the fabled 'ticking bomb' situation, used by some American law professors to justify the use of torture in certain circumstances. In Gafgen v. Germany, issued earlier this week, the Court in effect reversed a decision by a Chamber.
Thanks to Christopher Ryan.

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