Bentham on Torture
![handle is hein.journals/nilq24 and id is 313 raw text is: BENTHAM ON TORTURE
Bentham's utilitarianism has so long been a source of progressive social
policy and the main intellectual support of the criticism of our law that we
have not yet developed a theory of individual rights, comparable with utilitarian
theory in clarity, in detailed articulation and in appeal to practical men. At
present although we can point to institutions-like the presumption of
innocence-which seem to embody such rights we have only the fragments of
a theory. So it is true that on this subject as on others, that where Bentham
fails to persuade, he still forces us to think.1
I: Introduction
When Bentham wrote about torture in the late 1770's the move-
ment for its abolition in Europe was far advanced. In 1907 the author
of an article on the subject in the Encyclopaedia Britannica could
state complacently: The whole subject is now one of only historical
interest as far as Europe is concerned.' Since then international
declarations and conventions on human rights, by placing an absolute
prohibition on torture, have given official support to the view that
its use is inconsistent with civilised standards even in time of war or
extreme emergency.3 Yet in 1973 our newspapers carry, almost daily,
reports of allegations and investigations of torture and related prac-
tises in many countries, including Northern Ireland.
The Chairman of the International Executive Committee of
Amnesty International has stated that torture is like a contagious
disease, which has now reached epidemic proportions; his organ-
isation has launched a world-wide campaign, which has been com-
pared by its sponsors to our ancestors' campaign for the abolition
of slavery.'
The widespread survival or resurgence of torture in the twen-
tieth century has generated a fairly substantial literature, but nearly
H. L. A. Hart, Bentham and the Demystification of the Law (1973) 36
M.L.R. 2 at 16-17.
* 27 Enc. Brit. 72 (11th ed., 1910-11). This valuable article by James Williams,
All Souls Reader in Roman Law at the University of Oxford, is marked Glas-
gow, 1907.
1 E.g. Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms (hereafter referred to as the European Convention)
states: No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading
treatment. The provision is absolute in the sense that no derogation is
allowed in any circumstances whatever (Article 15). See further, J. Fawcett,
Application of the European Convention of Human Rights (1969), pp. 34 ff.
4 Statement by Mr. Sean MacBride S.C., December 11th, 1972, on the launching
of the Amnesty International Campaign for the Abolition of Torture.
Autumn, 1973]
TORTURE](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/nilq24&div=35&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Bentham on Torture
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most