judicial torture
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. State-sanctioned torture administered by officials: A historical practice involving the deliberate infliction of severe physical or psychological pain, authorized by a governing legal authority and carried out by its appointed officers, typically to extract confessions or testimony.
Usage
This term is used exclusively as a historical and legal noun to describe a specific, institutionalized practice. It is not used in modern legal contexts where such acts are universally prohibited. - It functions as a subject or object in a sentence, often modified by adjectives denoting time, place, or method (e.g., medieval judicial torture, widespread judicial torture).
Examples
- The court records from the 16th century contain grim accounts of judicial torture.
- Historians debate the effectiveness of judicial torture in obtaining reliable information.
- The abolition of judicial torture was a major milestone in the development of human rights law.
Advanced Usage
- As a historical concept: The term is primarily used in academic, historical, or legal discussions to analyze past legal systems and their methods.
- The chapter examines the role of judicial torture in the Spanish Inquisition.
Variants and Related Words
- Torture (noun/verb): The general act of inflicting severe pain. is a specific subtype.
- Question (verb, archaic): A historical euphemism meaning to subject someone to judicial torture, as in "to put to the question."
- Interrogation under duress: A modern legal phrase that may describe illegal acts analogous to historical judicial torture.
Synonyms
- Legalized torture
- State-sanctioned interrogation (under pain)
- The rack (specific instrument, used metonymically)
- The question (archaic)
Related Phrases
- To abolish judicial torture: The common phrase for the act of ending this practice by law.
- Several European monarchies moved to abolish judicial torture in the 18th century.
- Instrument of judicial torture: Refers to the devices used, such as thumbscrews or the rack.
- The museum displayed various instruments of judicial torture.
Noun
- torture that is sanctioned by the state and executed by duly accredited officials
- the English renounced judicial torture in 1640