The UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol

Torture constitutes a direct and deliberate attack on the core of the human personality and dignity. It is absolutely prohibited under international law and its prohibition cannot be derogated from, even in times of war, terrorism and other emergencies. Nonetheless, torture continues to be practiced in many parts of the world. To react to the widespread use of torture, the international community decided to adopt the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention), a specialised treaty with the main objective to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world. Almost ten years after the first edition of the United Nations Convention against Torture A Commentary, Prof. Nowak and a team of researchers working at or affiliated with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM) have produced a new revised edition of the Commentary to be published by Oxford University Press (OUP), Oxford Commentary of International Law. The editors of this second edition are Manfred Nowak, Moritz Birk and Giuliana Monina, scientific director and researchers at BIM. The team of authors is composed of a number of highly dedicated researchers working at or affiliated with the BIM: Margit Ammer, Moritz Birk, Kerstin Buchinger, Nora Katona, Stephanie Krisper, Johanna Lober, Giuliana Monina, Roland Schmidt, Andrea Schuechner, and Gerrit Zach. The Commentary is one of the most comprehensive resource tools for anyone working on the prohibition and prevention of torture. The new edition ensures that the Commentary continues to serve as a comprehensive and up-to-date guide, providing researchers and practitioners worldwide with guidance on the interpretation of state obligations to prevent torture and ill-treatment. The revised Commentary includes all relevant developments concerning the interpretation of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), with particular focus on the practice of the UN Committee against Torture, the Sub Committee for the Prevention against Torture (SPT) as well as the work of the UN Special Rapporteur against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other UN treaty and charter bodies, human rights monitoring mechanisms, and key developments at the national level. The new edition further aims to make the manuscript and the Convention more user friendly for academics and practitioners alike. This publication - a major academic reference text - will be the first Commentary from the Oxford Commentary of International Law to be available open access, thereby ensuring that the findings will be accessible - with a clear legal framework for reuse - to the widest public possible.