The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture

Wolf, Anne; Steinerte, Elina; Evans, Malcolm D.; Murray, Rachel

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602193.001.0001

Cited by 51 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…48 The duty is arguably formulated in action-oriented language. Rather than an obligation for states actually to succeed in preventing torture 49 it appears to place a positive obligation upon the state to take action.…”

Section: The Duty To Prevent Torture and States' Positive Obligationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Yet torture prevention is not about fulfilling international commitments concerning the prohibition of torture.' 13 In 2002 the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights adopted the Robben Island Guidelines for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture (RIG) intended to provide guidance on the implementation of Article 5 (prohibition of torture) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. 14 Interestingly the implementation guide accompanying the Guidelines stresses the existence of the separate but interrelated obligations to prohibit and to prevent torture.…”

Section: The Influence Of the Prohibition On The Prevention Of Torturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…41 The OPCAT has also embraced a broad approach to the concept of places of detention and deprivation of liberty which might include the more traditional criminal justice settings as well as other places where people are detained by public order such as immigration centres and psychiatric hospitals. 42 Possibly these are just some examples of 'places' of detention in a list, which can be further extended. This is particularly true if the concept of deprivation of liberty is, as it is suggested, underpinned by the ideas of power relations and control.…”

Section: The Definition Of Deprivation Of Liberty and The Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A critical reflection on the conceptual and legal foundations of the duty to prevent torture

Renzulli

2016

The International Journal of Human Rights

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The present article elaborates on the legal and normative foundations of the duty to prevent torture. It argues that the content of this duty is both deceivingly simple and complex. The duty, as currently understood, requires States to take a range of legislative, administrative, and judicial measures to prevent acts of torture. However this range of measures and approaches opens the door to endless scenarios of potential relevance, that somewhat blur the content of the duty itself. In order to circumscribe and clarify the nature and scope of the duty it is argued that, firstly, it is necessary to sever the concept of prevention from the definitional elements on which the concept of prohibition of torture is premised and to focus on the conditions known to generate a risk of torture, namely those associated with deprivation of liberty. Secondly, the article suggests that by locating the duty to prevent in a positive obligation framework, more specifically in the positive obligation 'to fulfil', the general duty can be distinguished from the measures through which the former is actually fulfilled. The article suggests that such an approach would facilitate the anticipatory potential of the prevention of torture and allow thinking more broadly about implementation strategies to eradicate torture.

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Section: The Duty To Prevent Torture and States' Positive Obligationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: The Influence Of the Prohibition On The Prevention Of Torturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Definition Of Deprivation Of Liberty and The Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A critical reflection on the conceptual and legal foundations of the duty to prevent torture

Renzulli

2016

The International Journal of Human Rights

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“…The Mandela Rules substantially amended and strengthened the provisions of the previous UN Standard Minimum Rules concerning the inspection and monitoring of prisons and were influenced by OPCAT. OPCAT established the UN's Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereafter "SPT"), which has the power to visit places of detention within states party to the Convention (Murray et al 2011), as well as domestic-level NPMs. These entities have the remit and powers to visit places of detention in order to prevent torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.…”

Section: The European Legal Framework For Prison Inspection and Monitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…OPCAT is based on the premise that the prevention of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can be supported by means of regular visits by independent bodies to places of detention. The Convention Against Torture (CAT) originally contained no mechanism by which bodies would visit places where people are deprived of their liberty and the process by which OPCAT was drafted was long and challenging (Murray et al 2011). Thirty-eight Council of Europe Member States have designated NPMs (Hardwick and Murray 2019), while 26 of 28 European Union Member States have done so at the time of writing.…”

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confidence: 99%

Prison Inspection and Monitoring: The Need to Reform European Law and Policy

Rogan

2019

Eur J Crim Policy Res

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Prison inspection and monitoring bodies are important safeguards against breaches of human rights. In recent years, prison inspection and monitoring has become a key focus for international human rights standards, particularly through the introduction of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and the UN's Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which recognize the need for robust and effective systems of prison oversight. This article contends that European legal standards on inspection and monitoring have not kept pace with international developments. The content of European law concerning domestic-level prison inspection and monitoring is not clear, nor has it been consolidated or examined in depth. Through engaging in comparative analysis with international instruments, this article analyses standards promulgated by Council of Europe and European Union bodies on inspection and monitoring, arguing that they need reform in light of international developments. Taking the opportunity presented by the revision process for the European Prison Rules and associated commentary, the article proposes improvements to European legal frameworks. It welcomes proposals for stronger powers for inspection and monitoring bodies, advocates for a specific instrument on prison inspection and monitoring and calls for more empirical understanding of how such bodies operate in practice. Keywords Prisons. European penal policy. European human rights. Inspection and monitoring. European Prison Rules. International human rights law. OPCAT. Mandela Rules Introduction: Prison Inspection and Monitoring as Ways of Protecting Human Rights Prisons pose unique challenges for the promotion of human rights and upholding the rule of law. Far from public view and containing people who often elicit little public sympathy, prisons are places where tensions between the need for security and the simultaneous need to

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The Law’s Response to the Plight of Victims of Trauma in the Context of International Criminal Justice

Nsereko¹

2021

Nigerian Yearbook of International Law 2018/2019

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The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

A critical reflection on the conceptual and legal foundations of the duty to prevent torture

A critical reflection on the conceptual and legal foundations of the duty to prevent torture

Prison Inspection and Monitoring: The Need to Reform European Law and Policy

The Law’s Response to the Plight of Victims of Trauma in the Context of International Criminal Justice

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