NCJ Number
157949
Journal
Revue de science criminelle et de droit penal compare Issue: 2 Dated: (April-June 1995) Pages: 225-246
Date Published
1995
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The article explains and evaluates the new provisions against terrorism in the French Criminal Code of 1994.
Abstract
According to the new code, terrorism is defined as individual and collective acts aimed at disturbing public order through intimidation and terror. Such acts include attacks on human life (e.g., assassinations, torture, and threats), attacks on personal liberty (e.g., abductions and hijacking), and ecological terrorism, such as voluntary pollution of the environment with the goal of harming humans and animals. Unlike previous legislation, the code stipulates special or, at least, aggravated punishments for terrorist crimes. Thus, an offense that is normally punished by a 30 years prison term results in life imprisonment if it is linked to terrorism. The article criticizes the absence of a useful definition of terrorism; overall, however, the new provisions are seen as positive because they judiciously build on earlier laws which have proven effective, because they adequately address present and future terrorism, and because they agree with the new European Convention on Terrorism.