Update on the House of Lords

“The principles of the common-law, standing alone, in my opinion compel the exclusion of third-party torture evidence as unreliable, unfair, offensive to ordinary standards of humanity and decency and incompatible with any principles which should animate atribunal seeking to administer justice.” Thus spoke Lord Bingham when he announced the Law Lords decision banning torture from U.K. courts. He went on: “This prohibition is designed to produce a deterrent effect, in that it signals to all members of the international community and the individuals over whom they wield authority that the prohibition of torture is an absolute value from which nobody must deviate.”

His fellow lwayer Lord Hoffman dirtected a comment to the U.S.: “In our own century [he had been talking about the centuries old ban on torture in U.K. common-law] many people in the United States, heirs to that common-law tradition, have felt their country dishonored by its use of torture outside the jurisdiction, and its practice of extra-legal ‘rendition’ of suspects to countries where they would be tortured.”

Couldn’t be clearer than that. Well said. Now we need someone here to pick up the ball. I wonder what the odds are of that?