The terrorist threat to international peace comes from ‘private’ networks–non-state cross-border groups. Presented with the numerous terrorist threats, in particular from the so-called Salafist al-Qaeda groups, France has armed itself with laws covering all forms of terrorism. This strategy is aimed at preserving internal peace and stability. In the absence of an international definition of terrorism generally accepted by the UN, France’s new penal code will be the first, in the fight against terrorism, to define the phenomenon as a serious crime in its own right. The important questions are what terrorism is in the eyes of the law, and how far France’s strategy will contribute to the fight against international terrorism.
An Anti-Terrorist Penal Strategy
International terrorism is as insidious as fire: it starts with a small spark where one least expects it, smoulders quietly before becoming visible then develops rapidly and propagates wildly despite those responsible for the country thinking they have it under control.(1) Over the last few decades extremely violent terrorist attacks have multiplied in Europe in spite of the creation of specialised anti-terrorist units and the increased assets given to existing security services. In 1995 France was attacked by terrorists who spread their terror in Paris, and on 11 March 2004 hyperterrorism(2) once again struck the European mainland: the attacks in Madrid by a so-called Salafist network related to al-Qaeda left 191 dead and some 2,000 wounded. In July 2005, responsibility for the bloody attacks in London was also claimed by al-Qaeda. Dean Claude Journes has noted that the events in London were part of a sequence of events that began in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, continued on 11 March 2004 and then in Sharm-el-Sheikh in the night of 22-23 July 2005. Compared with the 3,000 dead in the United States, 191 in Spain and 67 in Egypt, the London attacks, with 56 deaths, were not the most murderous.(3)
What can be done at the national level to fight an unpredictable, transnational threat of this type? What are the definitions of terrorism in national legislation, and what are the qualifications on those definitions? The challenges are considerable, the more so given that these dangerous activists of different nationalities form a nebulous group which can hit anywhere and everywhere and which recruits and trains new radicals in many different countries.
Faced with the immense problem posed by terrorism, countries have reacted by taking measures that each sees as necessary in accordance with its own judicial system. The aims are to crack down on terrorism, facilitate investigation and speed up the legal processes. In many cases, new criminal laws and legal texts have been introduced to fight against this cross-border problem.
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