The case law of the European Court of Human Rights
I analyse case-law developments in the European Court of Human Rights based on Article 2 (right to life) as they relate to suicide prevention in places of detention (prisons, police stations, and psychiatric hospitals) and the paradoxical effects they have had on prevention policies enacted by states condemned by the Court. I first show that the jurisprudential philosophy referred to by the Court is marked by an emphasis on risk management and a narrow understanding of individuals’ suicide attempts. I then demonstrate that, under pressure exerted by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the national associations for the defence of the rights of detainees, the Court’s judgments lead states to adopt suicide prevention policies that are actuarial (risk management) and punitive. However, this perverse effect seems to be partially offset by the possibility that the families of detainees, through the investigative duties of member states of the Council of Europe, can exercise at least some supervision over the custodial and police systems.