Terrorism and Transnational Law: Rules of Law Under Conditions of Globalisation

The ‘wars on terror’ are both products of, and productive of, globalisation – and transnational law. They are products of globalisation because of the transnational nature of the imagination, instigation, and operation of the attacks. And they are productive of globalisation – of selective globalisation – in the ways in which they facilitate the extension of state apparatuses of control beyond the state’s territory. These claims will be developed throughout this chapter. They are claims about the transnationalisation of counter-terrorism law, a subject of growing study, although studies that use this precise language are few. The field of transnational counter-terrorism law involves the progressive diminuation of the gap between law that relates to international peace and security (e.g. UN Security Council resolutions) and national laws on substantive and procedural criminal law and criminal justice, as well as constitutional and administrative law, immigration and asylum law, and other fields salient to counter-terrorism operations. There are certain measures that, in effect, collapse the gap entirely – chief amongst these are UN Security Council resolutions 1373, 2178, and 2395, and 2396, and the regional and national laws which implement those resolutions. The first part of this chapter will explore the relationship between states, their law, and terrorism. This relationship is central to any useful analysis of the modalities of counter-terrorism law and policy. The second part of the chapter will examine the impact of globalisation on this field and the rise of transnational counter-terrorism law. The third part of the chapter considers the implications for law and government of the ‘wars on terror’. In conclusion, the chapter notes the challenges of rule of law resistance.