Law and Torture: Contemporary Legal Scholarship on Torture, from the Doctrinal to the Critical

Abstract

Legal scholars have historically studied and shaped attitudes and approaches to torture – in its infliction, identification, and inhibition. The role of law in the contemporary anti-torture movement has been no less important – with the law, its logics and lawyers positing and animating the prevailing international anti-torture framework. This article reviews the contemporary ‘law and torture’ scholarship published in the last forty years in the English language – examining and charting its assumptions, preponderances, and orientations. In so doing, the article situates the cares and concerns of scholars (and their texts) along a doctrinal-critical continuum. The article aims to illustrate areas in which research is advanced and others which remain understudied – concluding with several connections and directions for future research.