As many scholars have shown, and other than what is suggested by their legal defnition, migrant smuggling and human trafcking are not always easily distinguishable in reality. Acknowledging this... Show moreAs many scholars have shown, and other than what is suggested by their legal defnition, migrant smuggling and human trafcking are not always easily distinguishable in reality. Acknowledging this grey area between the two phenomena, the Belgian legislature has introduced an alternative approach (referred to as ‘third-way approach’) which would ofer migrants who have experienced ‘aggravated forms’ of migrant smuggling the same protective status that is usually strictly reserved for victims of human trafcking. Interestingly enough, migrants don’t seem inclined to make use of this procedure. Through a series of expert interviews, this article shines light on the perspective of key actors within the Belgian criminal justice system and migration control apparatus with regard to this third-way approach and its functioning in practice. In so doing, the article not only reveals how the proper functioning of this third-way approach is hindered by a series of organizational and institutional factors, but it also shows how the diferent actors are struggling with the inherent tension between the objectives of protecting state security and the protection of the needs of vulnerable groups in precarious life situations. Show less
Rijken, C.R.J.J.; Staring, R.H.J.M.; Woude, M.A.H. van der 2022
This article analyses two recent French counterterrorist legislations (Law No. 2016–386 – hereafter OCT&F law and the Law No 2017–1510 – hereafter the OCT&Flaw) through the lens of distinct... Show moreThis article analyses two recent French counterterrorist legislations (Law No. 2016–386 – hereafter OCT&F law and the Law No 2017–1510 – hereafter the OCT&Flaw) through the lens of distinct yet complementary theoretical frameworks. Combining the State of Exception thesis of Giorgio Agamben, the Enemy Penology as framed by Günther Jakobs as well as the more recent scholarship contributions on Pre-Crime, the article seeks to contribute to the scholarly debate on the use and the consequences of the use of criminal and administrative law in the fight against terrorism. In view of the numerous terrorist attacks that France has faced in recent years, the article aims to provide deeper knowledge of the French case by drawing substantially from the unfamiliar French scholarship. The article argues that the measures recently adopted seem to deepen the exceptional and pre-emptive logic in which potentially dangerous subjects have to be identified as “the enemy” as soon as possible in order to then be contained and dealt with. Show less
