Professor Lucia Zedner (University of Oxford)
Preventing Terrorism: The priority of prosecution and the perversion of criminal justice
(Jointly sponsored by Sociology and the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research)
4.30pm, Seminar Room 101, Sir Charles Wilson Building

The development of preventive counter-terrorist measures outside the criminal process is a major cause for concern, particularly given the development of procedures, such as Control Orders and TPIMs, which fail to respect the rights of those subject to them. Insisting upon the priority of prosecution of terrorist suspects appears to be a way of ensuring that the protections of due process apply to those suspected of planning or perpetrating terrorist offences. Yet arguing for criminal prosecution does not address the worrying expansion of inchoate, pre-inchoate, and preparatory liability for terrorist offences and the possible subversion of procedural protections within the criminal process. So the challenge is how to prevent terrorism without abandoning our commitment to legality and the rule of law, and without sacrificing individual liberties in the name of prevention. Doubtful that this challenge can be met simply by balancing liberty and security or by insisting on criminal over civil procedure, this paper explores an alternate approach that would instead trade-off different kinds of security, not least public security versus the security of the individual against unwarranted intrusion by the state.

All Welcome

Supported by the McFie Bequest

Any enquiries about the seminar programme should be addressed to:
Dr Kirsteen Paton, Sociology, Adam Smith Building, University of Glasgow G12 8RT
Tel: 0141 330 5070 or email: Kirsteen.Paton@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 16 January 2012

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