TY - JOUR

T1 - Isolating children in detention

T2 - Cautioning international comparisons

AU - Cakal, Ergun

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Solitary confinement of children is increasingly being challenged in Australian courts, with rulings recently handed down in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Recent international jurisprudence on the harmful practice, and on torture more broadly, stands poised to advance the local cause. This article warns that some international perspectives are outdated, with faulty or politically charged logics, and that, while appearing measured at first sight, reliance on older jurisprudence may ultimately impede progress. Comparative reasoning thus warrants careful consideration, given the complex political (hierarchical, state-deferential), definitional and evidential dynamics (conceiving and substantiating harm, purpose, intention) at play in adjudicating torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

AB - Solitary confinement of children is increasingly being challenged in Australian courts, with rulings recently handed down in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Recent international jurisprudence on the harmful practice, and on torture more broadly, stands poised to advance the local cause. This article warns that some international perspectives are outdated, with faulty or politically charged logics, and that, while appearing measured at first sight, reliance on older jurisprudence may ultimately impede progress. Comparative reasoning thus warrants careful consideration, given the complex political (hierarchical, state-deferential), definitional and evidential dynamics (conceiving and substantiating harm, purpose, intention) at play in adjudicating torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

U2 - 10.1177/1037969X231179862

DO - 10.1177/1037969X231179862

M3 - Journal article

VL - 48

SP - 166

EP - 171

JO - Alternative Law Journal

JF - Alternative Law Journal

SN - 1037-969X

IS - 3

ER -