Transnational Counter-terrorism Law: Law, Power and Legitimacy in the 'Wars on Terror'

The transnationalisation of counter-terrorism law is a key feature of law after 11 September 2001. The development of a ‘transnational counter-terrorism law’ has been led by efforts through the UN Security Council, in particular in its resolution 1373 (2001) and 2178 (2014). This paper uses these examples of transnational law to critique the idea of transnational criminal law and to examine the extent to which the transnationalisation of law poses new questions for the legitimacy of the criminal law. The paper argues that efforts to categorise and contextualise the law need to be undertaken alongside critical projects to understand changes in state power and in the use of that power to regulate politics across the globe.