TY - JOUR
T1 - Torture and an ethics of responsibility
AU - Gross, Oren
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - May torture ever be morally or legally justified or excused? This article argues that an absolute legal ban on torture ought to be maintained. However, in truly catastrophic cases the appropriate method of tackling extremely grave national dangers and threats may call for going outside the legal order. The way to deal with the "extreme" or "catastrophic" case is neither by ignoring it nor by using it as the center-piece for establishing general, ex ante, policies. Rather, the focus is on the possibility that truly exceptional cases may give rise to official disobedience: Public officials may act extralegally and be ready to accept the legal ramifications of their actions.
AB - May torture ever be morally or legally justified or excused? This article argues that an absolute legal ban on torture ought to be maintained. However, in truly catastrophic cases the appropriate method of tackling extremely grave national dangers and threats may call for going outside the legal order. The way to deal with the "extreme" or "catastrophic" case is neither by ignoring it nor by using it as the center-piece for establishing general, ex ante, policies. Rather, the focus is on the possibility that truly exceptional cases may give rise to official disobedience: Public officials may act extralegally and be ready to accept the legal ramifications of their actions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=47249105786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=47249105786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1743872107073236
DO - 10.1177/1743872107073236
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:47249105786
SN - 1743-8721
VL - 3
SP - 35
EP - 54
JO - Law, Culture and the Humanities
JF - Law, Culture and the Humanities
IS - 1
ER -