Rule of law or not? A critical evaluation of legal responses to cyberterrorism in the UK

IF 3.3 3区 社会学 Q1 LAW
Xingxing Wei
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Currently the UK does not have a specific anti-cyberterrorism law, instead relying on existing anti-terrorism laws to deal with cyberterrorism. This approach raises a number of problems insofar as it can lead to legislative uncertainty and unpredictability, as well as impacting on carrying risks of over-criminalisation, a lack of counterbalance, violation of principles of proportionality and arbitrariness. In light of these problems, this article aims to offer a critical evaluation of the UK’s existing legal responses to cyberterrorism with reference to the rule of law and basic human rights principles, mainly focusing on the vague and overly broad definition of terrorism, a tendency towards criminalising a wide range of terrorism precursor offences online, pre-emptive strategies and aggravated punishment of cyberterrorism. Based on this analysis, the article argues that applying the extension of existing anti-terrorism laws to combat low-risk cyberterrorism activities runs the risk of exacerbating harms to the values of the rule of law.

法治与否?对英国应对网络恐怖主义的法律措施的批判性评估
目前,英国没有专门的反网络恐怖主义法,而是依靠现有的反恐怖主义法来应对网络恐怖主义。这种做法引发了一系列问题,因为它可能导致立法的不确定性和不可预测性,并带来过度刑事化、缺乏制衡、违反相称性和任意性原则的风险。鉴于这些问题,本文旨在参照法治和基本人权原则,对英国现有的网络恐怖主义法律应对措施进行批判性评估,主要关注恐怖主义的定义模糊且过于宽泛、将各种恐怖主义前兆罪行在网上定罪的倾向、先发制人的策略以及对网络恐怖主义的加重处罚。基于上述分析,文章认为,将现有反恐法律的适用范围扩大到打击低风险的网络恐怖主义活动,有可能加剧对法治价值观的损害。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.60
自引率
10.30%
发文量
81
审稿时长
67 days
期刊介绍: CLSR publishes refereed academic and practitioner papers on topics such as Web 2.0, IT security, Identity management, ID cards, RFID, interference with privacy, Internet law, telecoms regulation, online broadcasting, intellectual property, software law, e-commerce, outsourcing, data protection, EU policy, freedom of information, computer security and many other topics. In addition it provides a regular update on European Union developments, national news from more than 20 jurisdictions in both Europe and the Pacific Rim. It is looking for papers within the subject area that display good quality legal analysis and new lines of legal thought or policy development that go beyond mere description of the subject area, however accurate that may be.
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