Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T06:35:53.518Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Terrorism and International Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2008

Gilbert Guillaume
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

On 11 September 2001 commercial passenger jets hijacked by suicide commandos were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. As the Towers imploded and collapsed, the death of several thousand people was witnessed live on television screens throughout the world. Those attacks, together with that on the Pentagon and the failed attempt that ended in Pennsylvania, aroused profound indignation and led to immediate reactions against the perpetrators or their protectors and sponsors, and more generally against international terrorism.

Type
Articles
Information
International & Comparative Law Quarterly , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , July 2004 , pp. 537 - 548
Copyright
Copyright © British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Leon, TrotskyIn Defence of Terrorism (London Allen & Unwin 1935);Google Scholarsee also ‘Défense du terrorisme’ Nouvelle Revue Critique 1935, in particular at 23 and 76.Google Scholar

2 See the Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, 16 12 1970;Google ScholarMontreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, 23 09 1971;Google ScholarConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes again Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, New York, 14 12 1973;Google ScholarInternational Convention against the Taking of Hostages, New York, 17 12 1979;Google ScholarProtocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, 24 02 1988;Google ScholarRome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 10 03 1988, and the Protocol to the abovementioned Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf.Google Scholar

3 See United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 40/61 and 42/159.Google Scholar

4 European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, adopted at Strasbourg on 27 01 1977.Google Scholar

5 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted at New York on 15 12 1997. It covers various offences enumerated in the text but confines itself to just a few words in Art 5 indicating that certain acts in question are ‘intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror’.Google Scholar

6 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted at New York on 9 12 1999.Google Scholar

7 See UN official documents A/C.6/55/L.2, A/C.6/56/L.9 and AC.6/57/L.9.Google Scholar

8 See Second Report of the Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly Resolution 51/210 of 17 12 1996—document A/53/37 of 23 07 1998, at 2.Google Scholar

9 See European Council Framework Decision of 13 06 2002 on combating terrorism No 2002/475/JHA, in Official Journal of the European Communities, 22 06 2002.Google Scholar

10 Higgins, R ‘The General International Law of Terrorism’, in Higgins, R and Flory, MInternational Law and Terrorism (London Routledge 1997), at 28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 The Final Act of the Rome Conference observes that, during the discussions, no generally acceptable definition of crimes of terrorism could be agreed upon for inclusion in the convention. It confines itself to recommending that the question be reconsidered by the Review Conference to be held in 2010 (doc A/CONF/183/10). The ICC nevertheless has jurisdiction in respect of terrorist acts that constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes as defined in its Statute.Google Scholar

12 See the decision by the High Court of Justiciary on 31 01 2001, confirmed on appeal on 14 03 2002 <http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/indexl.asp>. See also Revue francaise de droit aerien et spatial 2001, at 152, and 2002, at 216..+See+also+Revue+francaise+de+droit+aerien+et+spatial+2001,+at+152,+and+2002,+at+216.>Google Scholar

13 See European Council Framework Decision of 13 06 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States No 2002/584/JHA, in Official Journal of the European Communities, 18 07 2002.Google Scholar

14 See the Arbitral Award of 23 10 1924 by Max, Huber in the case concerning British Property in the Spanish Zone of Morocco, RIAA, vol II, at 640–7;Google Scholarthe Award in the William, E Chapman case (USA v United Mexican States), RIAA, vol IV, at 632–40;Google ScholarJudgment of the International Court of Justice of 24 05 1980 in the case concerning United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran, ICJ Reports 1980, at 3;Google Scholarsee also the case concerning the Janina incident, Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1972, vol II, at 77.Google Scholar

15 Security Council Resolutions 731 (1992) and 748 (1992).Google Scholar

16 Security Council Resolutions 1044 (1996) and 1054 (1996).Google Scholar

17 Security Council Resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000).Google Scholar

18 See Judgment of the International Court of Justice of 9 04 1949 in the case concerning Corfu Channel, Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1949, at 35;Google Scholarand the Court's Judgment of 27 06 1986 in the case concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States of America), Merits, ICJ Reports 1986, at 243 and 246.Google Scholar

19 See, eg, Condorelli, L ‘Les attentats du 11 septembre et leur suite: où va le droit international?’ (2001) 105(4) RGDIP;Google ScholarFranck, T ‘Terrorism and the Right of Self Defense’ (2001) 95 AJIL, at 840;Google ScholarReisman, M ‘In Defense of World Public Order’ (2001) 95 AJIL, at 833;Google Scholar‘Le droit international face au terrorisme’ CEDIN, Paris I, Cahiers internationaux No 17;Google ScholarAbiSaab, G‘The Proper Role of International Law in Combating Terrorism’ Chinese Journal of International Law vol I 2002 no 1, at 305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20 Statement by the North Atlantic Council of 12 09 2001 and Conclusions of the European Council at its extraordinary meeting of 21 09 2001.Google Scholar

21 International Legal Materials, vol 41, no 3, 05 2002, at 532–5.Google Scholar