Preliminary remarks

Acts of international terrorism, such as the atrocities committed on 11 September 2001 (hereinafter, ‘9/11’) and the many others committed before and since then, highlight the critical importance of the international rule of law and the terrible consequences of its disregard. Ultimately, however, the impact of such attacks depends on the responses to them and, in turn on the reaction to those responses. To the extent that the lawlessness of terrorism is met with unlawfulness, unlawfulness with impunity, the long-term implications for the rule of law, and the peace, stability and justice it serves, will be grave. Undermining the authority of law can only lay the foundation for future violations, whether by terrorists or by states committing abuses in the name of counter-terrorism. Conversely, so far as states operate within the law, and bring it to bear on those responsible for terrorism and crimes committed in the name of counter-terrorism, the authority of law can ultimately be reasserted and the system of law strengthened.

An underlying premise of this book is that the legitimacy of measures taken in the name of the fight against international terrorism depends on their consistency with international law. It is essentially this reference to objectively verifiable standards and processes – rather than subjective assertions as to good and evil or those who believe in freedom and those that seek its destruction – that enable credible distinctions to be drawn between those who abide by the rules of the international community and those who conspire against them. In an intensely politicised area, the law can provide us with meaningful parameters within which to assess what is loosely and invariably pejoratively labelled ‘terrorism’ and states’ responses to such acts.