Preventative detention and the right of personal liberty and security under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966

Preventive detention enables a person to be deprived of liberty, by executive determination, for the purposes of safeguarding national security or public order without that person being charged or brought to trial. This paper examines Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 to assess whether preventive detention is prohibited by the phrase 'arbitrary arrest and detention '. To analyse this Article, this paper uses a textual and structural analysis of the Article, as well as reference to the travaux preparatoires and case law of the Human Rights Committee. This paper argues that preventive detention is not explicitly prohibited by Article 9(1) ofthe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. If preventive detention is 'arbitrary', within the wide interpretation of that term as argued in this paper, it will be a permissible deprivation of personal liberty under Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966. Preventive detention will, however, always be considered 'arbitrary' if sajeguards for those arrested and detained are not complied with, in particular the right to judicial review of the lawfulness of detention.

Crusader churches in the Latin East : expressions of medieval theology

The Latin invaders of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 12th-14th Centuries were on a mission to retrieve and protect the Christian Holy Land from Muslim occupation. They encountered a consistent, Eastern approach to the architectural expression of the Christian faith which the physical remains of their churches show they adopted. Previously, I have shown how it can be deduced from the archaeological remains of churches from the 4th-6th C that early church architecture was influenced by the theological ideas of the period. This paper argues that the Eastern approach to church architecture as adopted by the Crusaders was compatible with the medieval European theological context and can be seen as a legitimate expression of medieval theology.

Gregory Palamas on the relationship between philosophy and theology

The relationship between philosophy and theology has rarely been a harmonious and fruitful one. The two disciplines are often segmented into mutually exclusive compartments. On the one hand, philosophers, particularly contemporary philosophers working within the Anglo-American analytic tradition, widely agree that the claims made by theologians – such as the claim that there is a God and that God is a trinity of persons – are meaningless, or false, or irrational, or unsupported by evidence, or in some other way epistemically below par. On the other hand, it is not unusual to find theologians following in the footsteps of writers such as Tertullian, Kierkegaard and Barth in arguing that, when it comes to theology, faith suffices and reason merely perverts.

The philosophy-theology dispute was no stranger to fourteenth-century Byzantium, particularly in the writings of the most prominent spiritual and intellectual figure of this period, viz., Gregory Palamas (c.1296-1359). In his debates with Barlaam of Calabria (c.1290-1348), Gregory Akindynos (c.1300-1348) and Nikephoros Gregoras (c.1290-c.1358), the issue of the appropriateness of employing philosophical terms and modes of reasoning in theology occupied a central place.[1] But before looking at how Palamas tackled this issue, it will be helpful, firstly, to briefly outline how the Christian world (especially in the East) prior to Palamas tended to see the relationship between secular learning (including philosophy) and theology; and secondly, to ascertain what exactly was Palamas’ conception of philosophy.

The mystical theology of Michael Ramsey

Explains the tradition of Christian mystical theology and ecndevours to highlight its contemporary importance and relevance. Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1961-1974, was seriously concerned with mystical theology and argued for its greater appreciation within the Church in the West.

Law and theology in Gilbert of Foliot's (c. 1105/10-1187/88) correspondence

Lord Peter Stein, eminent historian of Roman law, described the interaction of law and theology in the writings of one twelfth-century writer as a kind of 'universal jurisprudence' , The twelfth-century figure to whom he referred was Master Vacarius (c. 1115/2O-c. 1200), well-known English Roman lawyer and Anglo-Norman canonist. While Stein drew this conclusion largely on the basis of an analysis of Vacatius' strictly 'legal' work, the Liber pauperum, I have shown elsewhere, following a systematic study ofVacarius' other works, dealing with maniage, christology and heresy, that, when seen together, they demonstrate a use of law as a universal heuristic device to resolve conflict in law and theology.