Preventing Torture : A Study of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Preventing Torture comprises a documentary and empirical study - of a kind rare in the field of international human rights law - of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and the work of the Committee (the CPT) established under it. The authors chart the international human rights background to the Convention (including the historical and contemporary use of torture), describe the travaux prparatoires, analyse the composition and modus operandi of the Committee and set the standards formulated and applied by the CPT against those developed by other human rights bodies. They also assess, on the basis of visits throughout Europe, the reactions to the Committee's work in member states and consider the implications of an enlarged Council of Europe for the CPT in the future.