Public Law Studies Quarterly

Typology of obligations of States in respect of countering terrorism with ‎a special emphasis on judicial decisions

Articles in Press

Document Type : Article

Authors

Abbasali Kadkhodaei 1
Bahman Saedi 2

1 Professor, Department of Public law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, ‎Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student, Public International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of ‎Tehran, Tehran, Iran‎

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2022.335601.2968
Abstract
Today, there is no uniform obligation against terrorism, but the anti-terrorism laws at the domestic, regional, and international levels, on the one hand, and the Security Council anti-terrorism resolutions under Chapter VII, on the other, show a great reflection of the international community's public will to prohibit terrorism. This article uses descriptive-analytical methods to study the efforts to explain and prohibit terrorism in the international legal system. The findings of this study show that a number of courts, namely the Special Court for Lebanon, England Court of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation of France put forward controversial arguments to recognize the crime of international terrorism in peacetime as a customary law crime. They have even tried to link it to the basics of jus cogens. It should, however, be noted that the reasoning that erga omnes obligations of states to prohibit terrorism concerning certain terrorist acts - the actions of Daesh - cannot be baseless; because these terrorist attacks are an unprecedented threat to international peace and security, and they are indeed a threat to the values respected by the international community. However, the study of a set of counter-terrorism legal measures at the national, regional, and international levels does not reflect the legal consensus of states -the international community as a whole- on the definition of terrorism and its examples.

Keywords

Terrorism
the obligation ‎of States
erga omnes ‎obligations
judicial ‎decisions
International ‎Law.‎
Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) Books
    2. Andrea Bianchi & Yasmin Naqvi, (2004). Enforcing International Law Norms against Terrorism. published in North America (US and Canada) by Hart Publishing.
    3. Boyle, A., & Chinkin, C. (2007). the Making of International Law. UK, Oxford University Press.
    4. Meron, T. (2006). The Humanization of International Law. The Hague Academy of International Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. Young, R. (2006). Defining Terrorism: The Evolution of Terrorism as a Legal Concept in International Law and Its Influence on Definitions in Domestic Legislation. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 29(1), Article 3, 23-105.
    3. Weatherall, T. (2015). the Status of the Prohibition of Terrorism in International Law: Recent Developments. Georgetown Journal of International Law, (46), 589-627.
    4. Sorensen, J. (2012). Terrorism in Violation of the Law of Nations, Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law, 224-237.
    5. Talmon, S. (2005). The Security Council as World Legislature. the American Journal of International Law, (99), 175-193.
    6. Saul, . (2008). Attempts to Define ‘Terrorism’ in International Law. Sydney Law School, Legal Studies Research Paper, (08/115), 1-27.
    7. Saul, B. (2014). Terrorism as a Transnational Crime. Sydney Law School, Legal Studies Research Paper, (14/06), 1-16.

     

    1. C) Thesis
    2. Clere, A. (2012). An Examination of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Explosive Declaration of ‘Terrorism’ at Customary International Law. A dissertation completed in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Laws (Honours), University of Otago.

     

    1. D) Other documents
    2. Draft UN Comprehensive Terrorism Convention, 2001.
    3. ICJ Reports, Judgment, Case Concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (New Application: 1962) (Belgium v. Spain) Second Phase, 5 February 1970.
    4. ICTY, Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galić, Judgment and Opinion, Case No. IT-98-29-T, 5 December 2003.
    5. ILC, Draft conclusions on identification of customary international law, with commentaries, 2018.
    6. Re´union Ae´rienne v. Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Cour de cassation [Cass.] [supreme court for judicial matters] 2e civ, Mar. 9, 2011, Bull. Civ. II, No. 09-14743 (Fr.), 150 I.L.R. (2012).
    7. Regina v. Mohammed Gul, England Court of Appeal 2012.
    8. Statement by the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/PRST/2002/25. 2002.
    9. Statute of the International Court of Justice, June 26, 1945.
    10. STL, Interlocutory Decision on the Applicable Law, Case No.: STL-11-01/1, Date: 16 February 2011.
    11. UN Doc. A/AC.249/1 (7 May 1996).
    12. UN Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1966/Add.1.
    13. UN Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1996/Add.l (Part 2).
    14. UN Doc. A/CONF. 39/11, 9 April - 22 May 1969 official records.
    15. UN Doc. A/CONF.183/13(Vol.I), 15 June - 17 July 1998 official records.
    16. UN Doc. A/RES/3103(XXVIII) (1973).
    17. UN Doc. A/RES/49/60 (1994).
    18. UN Doc. S/RES/1566(2004).
    19. UN Doc. SC/8214(2004).
    20. UN Doc. SC/RES/1269(1999).
    21. A/CN.4/693, 8 March 2016.
    22. A/CN.4/706, 16 March 2017.
    23. A/CN.4/714, 12 February 2018.
    24. A/CN.4/727, 31 January 2019.
    25. A/HRC/32/CRP.2, 15 June 2016.

     

    References in Persian:

    1. A) Book
    2. Abdollahi, M. (2009). Terrorism, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Tehran: SDIL (The SD institute of Law, Research & Study) (In Persian).
    3. Zarneshan, S. (2013). Formation and Recognition of Customary International Law. Tehran: Ganjedanesh Pub, Tehran, Iran (In Persian).
    4. Ziai Bigdeli, M. (2009). Public International Law. Tehran: Ganjedanesh Pub, Tehran, Iran (In Persian).

     

    1. B) Article
    2. Ahmadinejad, M. (2011). Obligations towards international community and its place in the context of international law of state responsibility. Foreign Policy Quarterly, (26), 961-984 (In Persian).
    3. Sadeghi Haghighi, Dydokht (2005). National Liberation Movements and International Terrorism from the perspective of International Law. Political & Economic, Publisher: Ettela’at Institute, (205-206), 28-37 (In Persian).
    4. Saedi, B., Arashpour, Al., & Farzami Nasab, A. (2020). Armed Conflict in Iraq; analysis of Daesh’s actions from the perspective of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law. Public Law Studies Quarterly, (50), 809-836 (In Persian).
    5. Savari, H., Attar, M. S. (2015). Typology of International Obligations. Public Law Research, 16(44), 35-71 (In Persian).
    6. Zamani, S. G. (1998). The Status of Peremptory norm among the sources of international law. International Law Review (ILR), 16(22), 317-344 (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 20 February 2026

  • Receive Date 14 December 2021
  • Revise Date 05 February 2022
  • Accept Date 18 April 2022

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