Dmytro Yagunov: Between Doctrine and Reality: The Institutional Fragility of the Absolute Prohibition of Torture

I am pleased to announce the publication of my new article, “Between Doctrine and Reality: The Institutional Fragility of the Absolute Prohibition of Torture,” in European Political and Law Discourse. The article addresses one of the foundational principles of European human rights law: the absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It examines the gap between the prohibition’s doctrinal absoluteness and the fragility of its practical enforcement. Drawing on Gäfgen v. Germany, Jalloh v. Germany and Sklyarenko v. Ukraine, as well as contemporary manifestations of instrumental justifications for coercion, I argue that the genuine safeguard of Article 3 lies not only in the formal text of the rule, but above all in a sustained institutional and societal culture of intolerance towards torture and ill-treatment. I hope that this publication will contribute to the continuing professional and academic debate on how an absolute legal norm can remain genuinely absolute in practice.