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Islam In The Secular Nomos Of The European Court Of Human Rights, Peter G. Danchin
Islam In The Secular Nomos Of The European Court Of Human Rights, Peter G. Danchin
Peter G. Danchin
Since 2001 the European Court of Human Rights has decided a series of cases involving Islam and the claims of Muslim communities (both majorities and minorities) to freedom of religion and belief. This Article suggests that what is most interesting about these cases is how they are unsettling existing normative legal categories under the ECHR and catalyzing new forms of politics and rethinking of both the historical and theoretical premises of modern liberal political orders. These controversies raise anew two critical questions for ECHR jurisprudence: first, regarding the proper scope of the right to religious freedom; and second, regarding the …
A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis
Michael W. Lewis
The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture debate, …