Evolution of International Legal Instruments’ Approach towards Terrorism: Legal Gaps and their Implications

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Law Department, University of Isfahan.

2 Associate Professor, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch , Islamic Azad University

3 Assistant Professor, Law Department, Mofid Gom University

4 Phd Candidate, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University,

Abstract

The International community officially paid attention to terrorism in
early 1960s, in term of legal and international aspects of the issue,
through ratifying the first-ever international convention in this regard,
i.e, the Tokyo Convention (1963). By adopting resolution 3034 (1972),
the UN General Assembly introduced the issue in the UN literature. Half
a century after the first global attention to this phenomenon, and despite
ratification and adoption of some 150 conventions and UN resolutions,
international community still suffers from lack of a coherent legal
approach in fighting terrorism. This article aims to analyze the evolution
of terrorism in international legal instruments, and provide an assessment
on the legal gaps and their implications on self-defence and fighting
terrorism.

Keywords


  1. Arab Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, signed at a meeting held at the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States in Cairo on 22 April 1998.  
  2. Charter of the United Nation.
  3. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, Montreal, 23 Sep. 1971.
  4. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, Rome, 10 March 1988.
  5. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, the Hague, 16 December 1970.
  6. Convention of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on Combating International Terrorism, adopted at Ouagadougou on 1 July 1999. 
  7. Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, Tokyo, 14 September 1963.
  8. Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, Montreal, 1 March 1991.
  9. Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, Vienna, 3 March 1980. 
  10. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1973.
  11. Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to Inter­­‌national Civil Aviation, Beijing, 10 Sep. 2010.
  12. Corten, Olivier,(2005), The Controversies Over the Customary Prohibition on the Use of Force: A Methodological Debate, EJIL, Vol. 16 No. 5, 803–822. 
  13. European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, concluded at Strasbourg on 27 January 1977.
  14. General Assembly Resolution A/RES/3034(XXVII), 18 December 1972; Resolution A/RES/31/102, 15 December 1976; Resolution A/RES/32/147, 16 December 1977; Resolution A/RES/36/109, 10 December 1981; Resolution A/RES/38/130 , 19 December 1983; Resolution A/RES/40/61, 9 December 1985; Resolution A/RES/42/159, 7 December 1987; Resolution A/RES/44/29, 4 December 1989; Resolution A/RES/46/51, 9 December 91; Resolution A/RES/49/60, 17 Feb. 95; Resolution A/RES/51/210, 16 January 1997;  Resolution A/RES/56/88, 24 January 2002; Resolution A/RES/57/27, 15 January 2003; Resolution A/RES/57/83, 9 January 2003; Resolution A/RES/58/81, 8 January 2004; Resolution A/RES/59/46, 16 December 2004; Resolution A/RES/60/73, 11 January 2006; Resolution A/60/825, 27 April 2006; Resolution A/RES/60/288, 20 September 2006 and Resolution A/HRC/14/24/Add.6, 28 May 2010.
  15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_territory#Lists_of_dependent_territories
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  17. International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, UN General Assembly, 17 December 1979.
  18. International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, UN General Assembly, 13 Apr 2005.
  19. International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, UN General Assembly, 15 December 1997.
  20. International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, UN General Assembly, 9 Dec. 1999.
  21. Kretzmer, David, (2005), “Targeted Killing of Suspected Terrorists: Extra-Judicial Executions or Legitimate Means of Defence”, EJIL, Vol. 16 No. 2, 171–212.
  22. MacDonald, Scott D., “The Lawful Use of Targeted Killing in Contemporary International Humanitarian Law”, Journal of Terrorism Research, Volume 2, Issue 3, November 2011, 126-144.
  23. O’Connell, Mary Ellen, Unlawful Killing with Combat Drones; A Case Study of Pakistan, 2004-2009, Notre Dame Law School, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 09-43, July 2010.
  24. OAS Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism Taking the Form of Crimes against Persons and Related Extortion that are of International Significance, Washington DC. Feb 1971.   
  25. OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, adopted at Algiers on 14 July 1999
  26. Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf, Rome, 10 March 1988.
  27. Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, Montreal 1988.
  28. Puchooa Prakash (2011), “Defining Terrorism at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon”, Journal of Terrorism Research, Vol. 2(3), 34-48.
  29. SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, signed at Kathmandu on 4 Nov. 1987.
  30. Treaty on Cooperation among States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Combating Terrorism, done at Minsk on 4 June 1999.
  31. UN Security  Council Resolution S/RES/2195, December 2014; Resolution S/RES/1730, 19 December 2006; Resolution S/RES/1566, 8 October 2004; Resolution S/RES/1535, 26 March 2004; Resolution S/RES/1526, 30 January 2004; Resolution S/RES/1455, 17 January 2003; Resolution S/RES/1456, January 2003; Resolution S/RES/1390, 28 January 2002; Resolution S/RES/1388, 15 January 2002; Resolution S/RES/1377, 12 November 2001; Resolution S/RES/1373, 28 September 2001; Resolution S/RES/1368, 12 September 2001; Resolution S/RES/1363, 30 June 2001; Resolution S/RES/1333, December 2000; Resolution S/RES/1269, 19 October 1999; Resolution S/RES/1267, 15 October 1999; Resolution S/RES/1044, 31 January 1996; Resolution S/RES/1054, 26 April 1996; Resolution S/RS/1070, 16 August 1996; Resolution S/RES/748, 31 March 1992; Resolution S/RES/635, 14 June 1989; Resolution S/RES/638, 31 July 1989; Resolution S/RES/579, 18 December 1985 and Resolution S/RES/286, 9 September 1970.