Just War Theory: The Ethics Of Torture

Just War Theory is a concept that has been around for ages dating back to the Greeks and Romans. Just War Theory, as a doctrine, has deep roots in the Catholic tradition as it comes out of Catholic moral theology from the Middle Ages (Walzer, 2008). The framework for the theory revolves around two concepts, Jus ad Bellum, the right to go to war, and jus in bello, proper conduct while engaged in war. Six conditions must be satisfied for a war to be considered just or the right to go to war. First, the war must be for a just cause. A lawful authority must lawfully declare the war. Third, the intention behind the war must be good. All other ways of resolving the problem should have been tried first. Fifth, there must be a reasonable chance of

Just torture theory is a framework for contemplating the ethics of torture, establishing a set of principles for moral reasoning and judgment and inspired by the just war framework (Majima, 2012). This theory revolves around three principles which consider the possible ethics of torture by framing it in the same structure of the just war theory. The first is jus ad cruciamentum, which defines the justice of torture. The second principle is jus in cruciamento, which describes the justice in torture. Finally, jus post cruciamentum defines the justice after torture. Majima summarizes that to have the justice of torture there must be a just cause, conducted by a legitimate authority, have the right intention, be a last resort, must achieve its goal, and the advantages brought by torture must be proportionate to the overall harm it causes. The second phase, justice in torture, must first establish a distinction between perpetrators, suspects, and innocents. This first criterion can pose difficult especially when dealing with terrorist. The second criterion of justice in torture is that there must be a proportionality of means. These means would include methods, duration, intensity, and degree of pain, as examples. Finally, to be considered just in torture there must be detailed records maintained. Majima's final proposal to his just torture theory, is justice after torture, in which he believes that rehabilitation and disclosure are vital to the overall justification following