The prevention of terrorism will be one of the major tasks of governments and regional and international organizations for some time. This collection is designed to contribute to the growing field of
What is the relevance of contemporary debates over emergency powers for countries situated in Asia? What role does, and should, the constitution play in constraining these powers? The essays in this collection address these issues, drawing on emergency situations in over 20 countries in Asia as a ready-made laboratory for exploring the relationship between emergency powers and constitutionalism. This volume therefore rests squarely at the intersection of two debates – a debate over the ability of law to constrain the invocation and use of emergency powers by the executive in times of crisis, and a debate over the nature and viability of constitutionalism in Asia. At this intersection are fundamental questions about constitutionalism and the nature of the modern state, questions that invite legal, political, sociological and historical analysis.
Preventing acts of terrorism remains one of the major tasks of domestic governments and regional and international organisations. Terrorism transcends borders, so anti-terrorism law must cross the boundaries of domestic, regional and international law. It also crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries between administrative, constitutional, criminal, financial, immigration, international and military law, as well as the law of war. This second edition provides a comprehensive resource on how domestic, regional and international responses to terrorism have developed since 2001. Chapters that focus on a particular country or region in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia are complemented by overarching thematic chapters that take a comparative approach to particular aspects of anti-terrorism law and policy.
Most modern states turn swiftly to law in an emergency. The global response to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States was no exception, and the wave of legislative responses is well documented. Yet there is an ever-present danger, borne out by historical and contemporary events, that even the most well-meaning executive, armed with extraordinary powers, will abuse them. This inevitably leads to another common tendency in an emergency, to invoke law not only to empower the state but also in a bid to constrain it. Can law constrain the emergency state or must the state at times act outside the law when its existence is threatened? If it must act outside the law, is such conduct necessarily fatal to aspirations of legality? This collection of essays - at the intersection of legal, political and social theory and practice - explores law's capacity to constrain state power in times of crisis.