Criminality and Terrorism

Abstract:     
The criminal law has assumed a central role in global counter-terrorism efforts since 9/11. This article examines criminal law responses to terrorism at the national, regional and international levels, including the controversial shift over time from treating terrorism as ordinary crime (augmented by sector-specific, transnational treaty offences) to stigmatizing terrorism as a special kind of offence against political life, public order, and international social values. The purposes, promise and limitations of criminal justice approaches to terrorism are explored in this context. It then argues that these developments have brought a bundle of rule of law problems concerning the principle of legality in the definition of offences; the over-extension of liability to capture remote harms; overly punitive approaches to penalties; risks of criminalising freedom of association; executive intrusion into judicial functions; discrimination; and the denial of a fair trial by an independent and impartial court. The interaction between criminal law controls and other branches of international and national law has also given rise to rule of law problems.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: terrorism, criminal law, definition, criminology, punishment, rule of law, criminal procedure, fair trial, human rights, legality, inchoate offences, terrorist organisations, procedural fairness, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, non-discrimination, fragmentation, humanitarian law

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K30, K33

Accepted Paper Series