UK Terrorism Legislation in an International Context
Jun 2006, Vol. 151, No. 3
By Peter Goldsmith
Terrorism is an international problem and it is therefore critical that the international community works together to find a solution. But terrorism is a particular challenge for democracies who must strive to protect individual liberties whilst at the same time ensuring collective security. But while terrorism is not new, 11 September changed the landscape of terrorism forever. These new outrages are of a different nature from older forms of terrorism and therefore more difficult to tackle: it is not just the scale – over 3,000 people of many different nationalities were killed in the Twin Towers – but the aspirations of the terrorists – they would have killed ten times as many if they could have; the use of suicide bombers – it is very hard to guard against attacks by people who not only do not care if their lives are lost but positively want it; the use of modern technology – to attack: commercial planes and dirty bombs if they could get them; and to communicate: no more do terrorists need to conspire in a darkened cellar where they might be overheard but through encrypted emails and scrambled telephone messages which are much more difficult to intercept. And they are international in nature: modernday terrorism is carried out through a network of cells and different organizations able to call on help from people in different countries. This diffuse and globalized structure presents enormous challenges to national law enforcement agencies. It is against that background that we must consider the most appropriate steps to protect our citizens from the threats posed by terrorism. The primary responsibility for this in any modern democratic state falls on the government. It is, in the first instance, for governments to assess the need for action. It is their responsibility to protect the security of the people. A government’s response to the threat of terrorism will need to be on a number of different levels – new legislation perhaps, increased international co-operation, new methods of infiltrating terrorist cells, new ideas as to how to combat the root causes of terrorism.
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By Peter Goldsmith
Terrorism is an international problem and it is therefore critical that the international community works together to find a solution. But terrorism is a particular challenge for democracies who must strive to protect individual liberties whilst at the same time ensuring collective security. But while terrorism is not new, 11 September changed the landscape of terrorism forever. These new outrages are of a different nature from older forms of terrorism and therefore more difficult to tackle: it is not just the scale – over 3,000 people of many different nationalities were killed in the Twin Towers – but the aspirations of the terrorists – they would have killed ten times as many if they could have; the use of suicide bombers – it is very hard to guard against attacks by people who not only do not care if their lives are lost but positively want it; the use of modern technology – to attack: commercial planes and dirty bombs if they could get them; and to communicate: no more do terrorists need to conspire in a darkened cellar where they might be overheard but through encrypted emails and scrambled telephone messages which are much more difficult to intercept. And they are international in nature: modernday terrorism is carried out through a network of cells and different organizations able to call on help from people in different countries. This diffuse and globalized structure presents enormous challenges to national law enforcement agencies. It is against that background that we must consider the most appropriate steps to protect our citizens from the threats posed by terrorism. The primary responsibility for this in any modern democratic state falls on the government. It is, in the first instance, for governments to assess the need for action. It is their responsibility to protect the security of the people. A government’s response to the threat of terrorism will need to be on a number of different levels – new legislation perhaps, increased international co-operation, new methods of infiltrating terrorist cells, new ideas as to how to combat the root causes of terrorism.
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