LLM International and European Legal Responses to Terrorism

Students studying in a seminarModule leader:  Dr Adrian Hunt

Module description:

This module explores legal responses to ‘terrorism’ by way of collective action by the ‘International Community’ including, in particular, initiatives and action undertaken by the United Nations, the European Union, and the Council of Europe.

The module covers issues concerned with the legal basis for enabling such action and mechanisms for controlling it. In so doing the module examines issues which collective action by international and regional bodies raises for international law, transnational criminal law, international criminal law, international criminal justice, European Union criminal law and justice, and International and European Human Rights law.

The module is also concerned with:

  • Assessing the effectiveness of various initiatives undertaken by the ‘International Community’ and regional bodies
  • Analysing the impact which these initiatives have: on individuals; and
    on trends in the use of such collective mechanisms for action in the field of criminal law and justice in International and European contexts.

Seminar topics:

In exploring these issues within those contexts outlined above, the module covers a range of specific counter-terrorism initiatives and the legal issues they raise, of which the following are indicative:

  • The history of and contemporary trends in international cooperation to combat ‘terrorism’
  • Overview of International and European Legal frameworks for countering ‘terrorism’
  • Approaches to defining ‘terrorism’ in transnational, international, and regional legal instruments and customary international law
  • ‘Terrorism’ as an ‘international crime’ and ‘terrorism’ as an ‘transnational crime’
  • UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and the role of the Counter-Terrorism Committee
  • UN Security Council and European Union counter-terrorism blacklisting procedures
  • The concept of ‘terrorist offences’ in European Union law
  • Approaches to and problems concerning the extradition of convicted and suspected ‘terrorists’ in International and European Union Law
  • International and European Union frameworks for cooperation between law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial authorities in the field of counter-terrorism
  • International and European legal responses to ‘terrorism’ and Human Rights law

Methods of assessment

Modules on the LLM programmes will be assessed in one of the following ways. As this website is set up in advance, it is not possible to specify which method of assessment will be implemented for each module.

Either:

  • One 6000 word essays

Or

  • One 3-hour written examination

If you'd like to find out how a module will be assessed in the forthcoming academic year please contact the LLM Programmes Administrator at Law-LLM@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

 

Disclaimer

Modules and Courses are constantly updated and under review. As with most academic programmes, please remember that it is possible that a module may not be offered in any particular year, for instance because a member of staff is on study leave or too few students opt for it. The University of Birmingham reserves the right to vary or withdraw any course or module.