CfP: Counter-Terrorism at the Crossroad between International, Regional and Domestic Law

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On June 13-14, 2019, within the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) the Research Group on “Constitutional Responses to Terrorism”, chaired by Prof. Kim L. Scheppele (Princeton University, USA) and coordinated by Prof. Arianna Vedaschi (Bocconi University, Italy), will organize its Annual Workshop on “Counter-Terrorism at the Crossroad between International, Regional and Domestic Law”. The venue of the event will be Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.

WORKSHOP THEMES AND FORMAT

This Workshop will address the evolving interaction between the international, regional and domestic level in framing counter-terrorism measures and policies. In particular, since the outbreak of the terrorist threat in 2001 the UN has developed counter-terrorism strategies and policies as well as issued resolutions with different binding force, in order to provide UN members with guidelines on how to address international terrorism. In such context, UN preventive measures or sanctions targeted at non-State players (and even individuals) are probably the most relevant innovation to deal with. How has this approach affected domestic law? What about the way UN members have implemented such resolutions? Moreover, UN measures have often impacted on regional bodies, including the EU. Hence, is the relationship between UN law and regional law changing, and to what extent? Ultimately, are we heading towards a UN-led global counter- terrorism law, and how beneficial is this for the enhancement of fundamental rights and personal freedoms recognized by national constitutions, regional charters and international standards? The previous are only some of the research questions that this Workshop will try to answer.

The event will feature the participation of former and current UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, Ben Emmerson and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, as keynote speakers. They will enrich the debate with their thorough “on-field” expertise and give us their invaluable insight into some core issues. For example, how does the UN architecture aimed at fighting terrorism work in practice? How does it interact with the Security Council, General Assembly and other UN entities? To what extent the principles of openness and transparency are respected? What structural changes have been undertaken since 2001, and what further changes might better serve adherence to international law, human rights and international humanitarian law compliance? What is the relationship of the counter-terrorism bodies to other external entities, e.g. the EU, FATF, GCTF? What might research ― and academia in general do in order to support the UN Special Rapporteur’s task?

In addition, the Organizers of the Workshop will welcome the submission of papers dealing with the intersection and interaction between international, regional (particularly EU) and domestic law in the field of counter-terrorism. Authors of selected proposals will be invited to present their work at the Conference.

Proposed topics for papers to be submitted include but are not limited to:

    • The UN Security Council, the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the limitation of fundamental rights: issues of legitimacy.

    • UN asset freezing and individual sanctioning regime: impact on fundamental rights.

    • The relationship between UN Security Council Resolutions and EU law from Kadi onwards: revising the hierarchy of norms?

    • Countering radicalization, violent extremism and incitement to terrorism: relationships between UN Res. 1624/2005, the CoE Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the EU Anti-Terrorism Directive and domestic law.

    • Foreign fighters between UN law, immigration issues and national border control.

    • The UN approach on the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes: the risks of cyberterrorism, preventive tools and paths of interaction between the public and the private sectors.

    • The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy: latest revision, concrete impact and progressing implementation.

    • “New” areas of counter-terrorism, such as biometrics, data gathering, API, cyber security, weapons control.

The Organizers will welcome not only papers focused on a specific legal system – e.g., how a country implemented guidelines coming from the UN – and those resorting to the comparative method, but also proposals adopting an international or supranational perspective.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND TIMING

Interested scholars are invited to submit an abstract (in English, no longer than 500 words) along with their CV, only via email and only to the following address: vedaschi.iaclcrt@unibocconi.it by December 15, 2018. The file shall be submitted in .doc, .docx or .pdf format and named “Surname_Name_CRTWS2019_Proposal.extension”. The subject line of the e-mail shall be composed as follows: “CRT WS 2019 submission – Surname Name”. Full name, email address and affiliation of the applicant shall be written at the head of the document. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Group’s Chair and Coordinator and acceptance will be notified by January 15, 2019.

Selected participants should send their full papers (no longer than 8000 words, including footnotes) no later than April 15, 2019.

In order to provide interested scholars with some ideas and suggestions on how to develop proposals, here are the reports by current and former UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism and UN Security Council Resolutions dealing with terrorism.

TRAVEL COSTS AND ACCOMMODATION:

Please note that the Organizers will not be able to cover travel and accommodation costs. All selected participants will be responsible for their own expenses.

Convenors

Prof. Kim L. Scheppele, Princeton University, Research Group Chair Prof. Arianna Vedaschi, Bocconi University, Research Group Coordinator

The IACL Research Group on Constitutional Responses to Terrorism: Who We Are and Our Activities

“Constitutional Responses to Terrorism” is an established permanent Research Group within the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL). The Group aims at connecting scholars from all over the globe working in the field of counter-terrorism, human rights and national security, but also those focusing on related topics, in order to create an internationally active and specialized network of experts, joining their knowledge to build fresh and innovative understandings. The main goal of this Research Group is to contribute to academic research on the matter and, at the same time, enhance the awareness of policy makers, concretely drafting counter-terrorism measures, on the need to find a fair, but increasingly challenging, balance between fundamental rights and security. The Group constantly took part in past World Congresses (Seoul 2018; Oslo 2014; Mexico City 2010) and organized other thematic conferences (the latest on “Human Dignity and Human Security in Times of Terrorism”, in collaboration with the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, held in The Hague, Holland, on December 14, 2017).