Michelle Farrell is a lecturer in law at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool.

'The great merit of this book is that its real focus is the surreal nature of the debate itself and, by seeking to move beyond it, aims to relocate that debate … an important contribution to a debate that is not going to go away and it has important implications for the manner in which that debate is to be conducted.' Malcolm Evans, International and Comparative Law Quarterly

• Introduction; 1. State of law; 2. The ticking bomb scenario: origins, usages and the contemporary discourse; 3. State of exception; 4. Legal, extralegal or illegal? The academic debate on the use of torture in exceptional circumstances; 5. The torture prohibition and the torture debate: moral aspects.

Michelle Farrell is a lecturer in law at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool.

'The great merit of this book is that its real focus is the surreal nature of the debate itself and, by seeking to move beyond it, aims to relocate that debate … an important contribution to a debate that is not going to go away and it has important implications for the manner in which that debate is to be conducted.' Malcolm Evans, International and Comparative Law Quarterly

• Introduction; 1. State of law; 2. The ticking bomb scenario: origins, usages and the contemporary discourse; 3. State of exception; 4. Legal, extralegal or illegal? The academic debate on the use of torture in exceptional circumstances; 5. The torture prohibition and the torture debate: moral aspects.

Michelle Farrell is a lecturer in law at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool.

'The great merit of this book is that its real focus is the surreal nature of the debate itself and, by seeking to move beyond it, aims to relocate that debate … an important contribution to a debate that is not going to go away and it has important implications for the manner in which that debate is to be conducted.' Malcolm Evans, International and Comparative Law Quarterly

• Introduction; 1. State of law; 2. The ticking bomb scenario: origins, usages and the contemporary discourse; 3. State of exception; 4. Legal, extralegal or illegal? The academic debate on the use of torture in exceptional circumstances; 5. The torture prohibition and the torture debate: moral aspects.