The Panoply of Challenges Facing International Criminal Justice: The United Kingdom’s Response to Defining and Responding to Terrorism

Abstract

Abstract Crimes such as terrorism pose some of the biggest postmodern challenges faced by criminal justice systems worldwide. How systems react and prevent such crime raises numerous legal, political and strategic issues i.e. cross-jurisdictional collaboration, policing and the erosion of civil liberties such as privacy. In this article, taking inspiration from criminological theory, two criminal justice challenges that are posed by terrorism are explored from the United Kingdom’s perspective: the international definition of terrorism including the factors that impede a common definition from being established and the domestic response to define, prevent and prosecute this crime. The aim of, and originality in, this article is to explore the criminal justice challenge facing the United Kingdom in balancing complex and competing interests when effectively responding to terror crime.