European and United States Counter-Terrorism Policies, the Rule of Law and Human Rights

Abstract

On 15 March 2011 the Global Governance Programme at the EUI hosted a High-Level Policy Seminar (HLPS) on ""European and United States Counter-Terrorism Policies, the Rule of Law and Human Rights"". The first part of the event consisted of a transatlantic dialogue on legal issues in the fight against terrorism, with addresses by the Legal Adviser of the US Department of State, Harold Hongju Koh and the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove. The second part of the HLPS consisted of focused discussions introduced by academics and clustered around four big themes: terrorist blacklisting, definitions of terrorism, detention, trial and the role of criminal law in the fight against terrorism, and finally the positions of the EU and the US in relation to counter-terrorism and the role of Islam. This joint policy paper is based on a selection of memoranda written mainly by academics to launch the debates in the second part of the HLPS. After the event the authors were given an opportunity to broaden and deepen their short memoranda, without necessarily remaining within the structure of four theme clusters. Even if the papers were expanded, they were to remain policy papers, rather than academic articles. As outcome, this joint policy paper consists of six papers by participants of the HLPS event. They reflect the aim of the HLPS to contribute to a dialogue on counter-terrorism issues in the United States and in Europe, the broad scope of the themes covered in the HLPS itself and, perhaps most importantly, an effort to address practical issues and dilemmas.