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Terrorism, Risk, and Legislation
places would be equalized with the traditional concept of “armed conflicts”
(see eg. Sassoli, 2004). Pickup mounted machine guns, Kalashnikovs and
even thousands of young men ready to engage in violence do not qualify for
“armed conflicts” but rather remind large scale and sustained street
violence.
Furthermore, we see in the context of anti-terrorist legislation a certain trend
towards extending the period of police detention allowed (Hermant/Bigo,
2000; Walker, 2000, pp. 18).
Immigration, asylum and refugee law
Another core point of anti-terrorist legislation concerns changes in
immigration laws. International demands call here for prevention of abuse
of asylum and refugee legislation. The legislative consequences consist on
the one hand of the introduction of techniques of precise identification
(biometric procedures), on the other hand of extensions for grounds to expel
and deport foreign nationals. Denmark e.g. has introduced legislation which
allows for deportation in case that foreign nationals threaten the safety of
other states than Denmark. What can be observed, too, e.g. in Germany,
concerns abolition of the privilege of religious activities in the law on
private associations and with that the facilitation of administrative
prohibition of associations of foreign nationals. However, in the member
countries of the European Convention on Human Rights (article 3) such
changes of immigration laws must be seen in the context of the general
prohibition to expel or deport foreign nationals to states where they are
threatened by imposition of the death penalty, execution or torture (EC
Commission, Working Document 2001). In a EC Commission working
document it is stated (EC Commission, Working Document 2001, para.
2.3.1) that the European Court on Human Rights may have to rule again on
how far Art. 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights may be
restricted by balancing the individuals interests on the one hand and the
states interest in security on the other hand. As currently foreign nationals or
asylum seekers who are placed under suspicion of terrorism in most cases
come from states in which the death penalty can be imposed (Arab
countries, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union, China, India; see Hood, 2003),
these individuals in principle are protected not only from being expelled and
deported but restrictions concern also police and judicial cooperation in
criminal investigations (see EC Commission, Working Document 2001).
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