Torture as Tort : Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Transnational Human Rights Litigation

The controversial nature of seeking globalized justice through national courts has become starkly apparent in the wake of the Pinochet case in which the Spanish legal system sought to bring to account under international criminal law the former President of Chile, for violations in Chile of human rights of non-Spaniards.

In this work, leading scholars from around the world address a host of complex issues raised by transnational human rights litigation.

There has been, to date, little treatment, let alone a comprehensive assessment, of the merits and demerits of US-style transnational human rights litigation by non-American legal scholars and practitioners.

This book seeks not so much to fill the gap as to start the process of doing so, with a view to stimulating debate amongst scholars and policy-makers.

The book's doctrinal coverage and analytical inquiries will also be extremely relevant to the world of transnational legal practice beyond the specific question of human rights litigation.