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Towards the Definition of International Terrorism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2017

John Dugard
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Abstract

To the layman terrorism presents no problem of definition. To the lawyer, however, it bristles with definitional problems of the kind which has made the concept of aggression so illusive.

Basically the difficulty is to identify those acts of terror designed to bring about political change which disrupt international relations and which the international community views as contrary to desirable international norms of behavior. The problem is not a new one and recent history provides several examples of international cooperation aimed at the suppression of acts of violence which undermine the international order.

Type
Terrorism and Political Crimes in International Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 67 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 67th Annual Meeting Washington, D.C. April 12-14, 1973 , November 1973 , pp. 94 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1973

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Footnotes

*

Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The author wishes to express his deep gratitude to the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa and the University of the Witwatersrand for providing a travel grant to enable him to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting.

References

1 In re Meumier [1894] 2 Q.B.D. 415 at 419.

2 See, for example, G. A. RES. 2936 (XXVII).

3 For an elaboration of the writer’s views on this subject see The O.A.U. and Colonialism: An Enquiry into the Plea of Self-Defence as a Justification for the Use of Force in the Eradication of Colonialism, 16 Int. and Comp. L. Q. 157 (1967).

4 See the criticism of the present writer’s views by Abi-Saab, GeorgesWars of National Liberation and the Laws of War 3 Ann. of Int. Studies 93 at 100 (1972)Google Scholar.

5 See Claude, Inis L.Collective Legitimization as a Political Function of the United Nations 20 Int. Org. 367 (1966)10.1017/S0020818300012832S0020818300012832CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Extradition in International Law 188 (1971).

7 Supra note 1.

8 Fawcett, J. E. S. in 34 Brit. YB of Int. Law, 391 (1956)Google Scholar.