In legal discourse, ‘torture’ is a term used to broadly describe the deliberate infliction of severe physical or mental pain and suffering upon a person. One controversial aspect of the legal definition of torture has been the status of the perpetrator/actor, that is, whose acts are relevant for the purposes of the torture definition under international law. Article 1 of the Convention against Torture (CAT) recognizes that torture must be punishable when committed by a public official or a person acting in an official capacity, or when committed by a private person subject to the active or passive involvement of a public official or other person acting in official capacity. While the CAT considers the official capacity of the actor to be an element of the legal definition of torture, this is not the case under international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Current developments in domestic and transnational settings push us to reassess the reach of the concept of torture against unprecedented factual scenarios.
This conference, organized by the ESIL Interest Group on International Criminal Justice and co-sponsored by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (Leiden University) and the Journal of International Criminal Justice (JICJ, OUP), revived the question of ‘whose’ acts may amount to acts of torture under the CAT and, more broadly, under international and transnational law relating to the prohibition, prevention and repression of this crime, on the basis of ‘which rationales’ and with ‘what wider implications’. The workshop was organized following a symposium on the topic, which is now available online in the Journal of International Criminal Justice. Two members of the IG Coordinating Committee – Ginevra Le Moli and Cheah W.L. – took part in the symposium and intervened in the conference, along with leading scholars in the field of international criminal justice, namely Andrew Clapham (IHEID), Tatyana Eatwell (Doughty Street Chambers), Paola Gaeta (IHEID), Emilie Pottle (Temple Garden Chambers) and Steven Powles QC (Doughty Street Chambers). Prof. Salvatore Zappalà, Editor-in-Chief of the JICJ, delivered the opening address of the conference.
The links to the pieces can be found below:
1. Asst. Prof. G. Le Moli, “Foreword” (in Open Access);
2. Asst. Prof. G. Le Moli, "Torture by Non-state Actors: Four Inquiries” (in Open Access);
3. Dr T. Eatwell and S. Powles QC, "‘Quasi-governors’ and Questions Relating to Impunity and Legal Certainty”;
4. Ms Émilie Pottle, "What is Torture? Making the Case for Expanding the Definition to Include Private Individuals as Perpetrators”;
5. Prof. Manfred Nowak, “Can Private Actors Torture?” (in Open Access);
6. Prof. Paola Gaeta, "‘Another Step in What it Means to Be Human’ — Prohibition v. Criminalization of Torture as a Private Act”;
7. Prof. Andrew Clapham, "Thinking Beyond the Offence of Torture”;
8. Ass. Prof. Cheah W.L. "Some Views on Torture from Asia”.
