U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

LEGAL REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM (FROM TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE: LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES OF LEGAL CONTROL, P 199-212, 1993, HENRY H HAN, ED. -- SEE NCJ-141768)

NCJ Number
141777
Author(s)
H H Almond Jr
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes a legal framework for the regulation of international terrorism and identifies some of the policy differences among states that frustrate the adoption and application of the measures.
Abstract
The legal framework for combatting international terrorism should include the extension of domestic criminal laws to certain crimes affecting the state but committed outside the territory of the victimized state. The legal framework should also involve the establishment and enforcement of laws made pursuant to and under international treaties and agreements. These laws would identify which acts will be considered criminal, stipulate for extradition or prosecution, and provide for assistance in the enforcement of such laws. The legal framework should also identify which crimes are to be considered international crimes, either through specific international treaties or through international custom. Some policy differences that have frustrated the adoption and application of the foregoing measures are some states' support for wars of national liberation that serve these states' interests; some states' indirect support for terrorist groups with arms, training, and financial support; some states' giving of asylum to individuals and groups alleged by another state to have committed crimes; and the refusal of sanctuary states to extradite individuals charged with a terrorist crime in another state. Once states can agree on common policies for the control of terrorism, the legal framework can be quickly agreed on and enforced. 7 notes