Chapter

International terrorism, the law of war and the negotiation of a UN comprehensive convention

Giuseppe Nesi

War crimes and the conduct of hostilities : challenges to adjudication and investigation

Cheltenham ; Northampton : E. Elgar, 2013

p. 243-256

English

In December 1999, the UN General Assembly decided to begin negotiations on a comprehensive convention on terrorism, with the goal of filling in the gaps of existing law on terrorism. Nesi examines the progress that has been made toward the comprehensive convention. He starts by outlining the legal framework and existing judicial practices pertaining to the crime of terrorism in order to better explain the various positions of international actors. Nesi then argues that negotiations on the draft comprehensive convention on terrorism have focussed on two interrelated issues: defining terrorism (Art. 2 of the draft text) and the scope of the convention’s application (Art. 3). In examining how the draft will relate to existing IHL when applied to acts committed during armed conflict, Nesi focuses on the impact of the draft’s proposed preamble, which is intended to address the issue of impunity for those who breach existing IHL. He argues that the proposal may lead to inconsistent jurisprudence across nations, and that more judicial cooperation is needed. The future of the comprehensive convention, Nesi argues, remains to be seen. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]

• War crimes and the conduct of hostilities : challenges to adjudication and investigation / ed. by Fausto Pocar, Marco Pedrazzi, Micaela Frulli