The Legal Research Society

The following is a very loose translation of a blog post by Maltese author, poet and playwright Immanuel Mifsud . Apologies in advance – the translation does not do justice to the poetry of Immanuel’s words. Immanuel draws his readers’ attention to a video produced by Amnesty International which depicts a re-enactment of water boarding. He describes the video as shocking and encourages readers to join Amnesty’s campaign against human rights abuse in the war on terror: ‘The shock multiplies when you remember that not only does this torture take place in an era of liberty and human rights, but that it is occurring with the blessing of a man who, in the privacy of his office, prayed with the Pope for the needs of the family . Water, in the past, was a symbol of life. It was used by various religions, various poets, various artists. The lack of it gave rise to conflicts and great battles; it awakened consciences too. Whichever angle you choose to look at it from, we have a...

For a succinct yet in-depth non-academic article on the legal quagmire of the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, see this week’s Annals of Law in the New Yorker where Jeffrey Toobin has a very good story with a couple of good references toward the end.

In last week’s New Yorker Magazine Paul Kramer has a very interesting article on how the use of torture techniques simulating drowning were used by the US military as early on as in the war against The Philippine Republic from 1899-1902. Kramer describes how the method known as “water cure” was used to obtain information from Filipinos siding with the revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo and refers to letters written by American servicemen depicting the use of “water cure”. One such letter reads: “Lay them on their backs, a man standing on each hand and each foot, then put a round stick in the mouth and pour a pail of water in the mouth and nose, and if they don’t give up pour in another pail”. Other testimonies describe how the water that the victim has inadvertently swallowed is then forcefully squeezed out of him again by pressing a foot against his stomach. The short article is grim reading and a bleak reminder that the current use of water boarding to obtain information is not a new phe...

In today’s Law in Action, on BBC Radio 4, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gives a rare interview touching upon a few fascinating legal issues. Justice Scalia is one of the most controversial characters on the US Supreme Court; hailed by conservatives, and abhorred by liberals, for his approach to legal interpretation based on doctrines of originalism and (strict) textualism. This approach is in sharp contrast to the approaches seen in Europe, by for instance the ECJ, where norms of judicial activism are very much alive. Regardless of what one thinks of Justice Scalia he does have some interesting points on the issue of legislation, not just constitutions, being static instruments that do not evolve over time. Similarly, Scalia discusses the use of “smacking on the face” under the “ticking bomb scenario”, which is likely to cause offense. In addition, he has some good points on the appointment of judges in the US, which, he argues, is ultimately not any longer about the lawyerly...