This chapter explores the lawful contours of a growing phenomenon – the administration of criminal justice by non-state armed groups in territories under their control. It highlights a steadily... Show moreThis chapter explores the lawful contours of a growing phenomenon – the administration of criminal justice by non-state armed groups in territories under their control. It highlights a steadily mounting body of international practice recognizing the lawfulness of the ‘de facto’ processes as dependent on how – rather than by whom – justice is administered and considers the conditions that international law places on such justice. These include the core standards of independence and impartiality, fair trial guarantees, respect for the principle of legality and the nature of the crimes, which pose myriad challenges in practice in the context of de facto justice. Among others, the chapter flags the particular implications of increased resort by non-state actors (like states) to broad terrorism-related crimes as a basis for prosecution. Finally, as meeting the standards required of de facto justice will generally depend on external support, the chapter questions whether under international law states can – or in certain circumstances should – cooperate with or recognize such processes consistently with international law. In an area of dynamic legal and practical development, the chapter reveals a landscape that is evolving to meet the realities of the changing nature of non-state actors’ exercise of power and control, but where tensions, uncertainties and paradoxes remain. Show less
This chapter belongs to a co-authored book so not really an edited volume, but there was no option in the system for a co-authored book. Thus the editor’s names (Boletsi, Winkler) are thus the... Show moreThis chapter belongs to a co-authored book so not really an edited volume, but there was no option in the system for a co-authored book. Thus the editor’s names (Boletsi, Winkler) are thus the chief authors and project leaders, but there were more authors involved. Show less
Lone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by... Show moreLone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by—seemingly—lone attackers.Academic research has explored topics like the demarcation between loneattackers and terrorist cells or networks, typologies of lone attackers, themotivation of lone attackers, and—lately—the attack patterns of lone actors.This chapter will analyse the changed understanding of lone actorviolence and discuss possible preventive approaches. Show less
The implication of Belgium-linked terrorists in the shootings and bombings on November 13, 2015 in Paris — around the Stade de France football stadium, in four pubs and restaurants and the Bataclan... Show moreThe implication of Belgium-linked terrorists in the shootings and bombings on November 13, 2015 in Paris — around the Stade de France football stadium, in four pubs and restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall — became more and more obvious during the police investigation that followed these events. Today we know that the bombings at Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek subway station on March 22, 2016 were committed by the same French-Belgian jihadi network. The consequence has been that many international observers focused on the Belgian police system, wondering why the Belgian police forces had not been able to prevent the radicalisation of these persons. In this paper we examine this question, explaining what happened during the period that preceded these assaults and decoding what the events mean for the Belgian police system today. In other words, this paper doesn’t go into the reaction to radicalisation and the subsequent violence itself, but into the preventive and pro-active actions that had been undertaken earlier to avoid the radicalisation of certain “at-risk” individuals and groups. The main argument we want to develop here is that a targeted prevention agenda was largely present in discourse, but to a great extent absent in practice. Further, we advocate that, if implemented, this kind of preventive approach would have been much more effective than the repressive criminal justice agenda now applied with respect to jihadi terrorism. Show less
