NCJ Number
141785
Date Published
1993
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This paper profiles five new approaches to countering international terrorism that bring the problem of terrorism into related areas of the legal structure that involve subtle constituencies likely to curb abuses of discretion that grant asylum to terrorists.
Abstract
One approach involves the application of analogies and supplements to the law of war in the management of terrorists; this would appeal to the military constituency of a state from which extradition is being requested. A second approach is the application of the general international law of claims, under which states are forbidden to permit their territory to be used as a base for armed bands who operate in the territory of another state; this approach would develop a constituency among the affluent and property-holding class. A third approach is to process terrorists under a refinement of the law of self- defense and neutrality, which appeals to the sense of national pride, territorial jurisdiction, and a desire to be neutral in a conflict. A fourth approach is to extend national jurisdiction to foreigners acting abroad; this appeals to the desire of some states to police the world and be neutral in conflict but active in the "war against terrorism." A fifth approach, a variation of the third, involves universal enforcement by an international organization, which appeals to the desire to be neutral while passing the responsibility for action to other "neutrals." 40 notes