State Responsibility for International Terrorism

The international legal regime governing the relationship between acts of terrorism and States is both complicated and, in almost every case, concerned with covert activity, so that its exact nature and content is very difficult to establish in any given case. While it is rare for States openly to engage in acts of terrorism this does not mean that they should not be held responsible for terrorist acts. Most analyses focus on the question of the attributability of terrorist acts to States, and on the implications thereof for the legality of uses of force in self-defence against States harbouring terrorists. Dr Trapp, in a refreshing approach, takes the question futher. Her study focuses on the substantive obligations to prevent and punish acts of international terrorism and the implementation of State responsibility, both judicially and otherwise, in response to the breach of those obligations. It is an important and timely contribution to a debate that brings together two topics which are the subject of intense contemporary academic and public interest— terrorism and State responsibility.