Professional paper
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALISATION OF TERRORISM
Matija Kovač
Abstract
This article examines the concept of terrorism in international law and highlights its relevant contemporary developments, paying particular attention to its criminalisation under international criminal law. A more practical dimension is presented using the example of regional
(EU) and national (Slovenian) normative measures following the terrorist attacks of September 2001. Initially, focus is placed on the understanding of “international terrorism,” its definition and the consequences of diverse interpretations of the term, especially given some basic categories of international criminal law. After laying out an elementary approach to the concept, international terrorism is presented as a (potential) international crime that falls into different
categories: diversifi ed contextually, jurisdictionally and on the basis of sources. This paper aims to explore the international criminalisation of terrorism (theoretical framework applied in the first part of the article), where the basic distinction between terrorism as a treaty crime and as an international crime under universal jurisdiction is proposed in the light of the progressive development of international criminal law. Given the attention the concept has received following September 2001, subsequent legal responses are briefly reviewed at regional and national levels. An evolutionary theoretical approach to the criminalisation of international terrorism is therefore supplemented with a more practical one which aims to offer a brief overview of the normative measures taken within the European Union and their inclusion in the legal order of the Republic of Slovenia. The conclusion alludes to the global prevalence of the aut dedere
principle and points to the related problems of enforcement of normative anti-terrorist measures which lie, however, beyond the scope of this paper.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
89286
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2007.
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