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The Criminalisation of Terrorists’ Online Preparatory Acts

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Cyberterrorism

Chapter Overview

This chapter examines the use of the criminal law to prevent terrorist attacks by prohibiting online preparatory activities. The chapter begins by explaining our understanding of the term cyberterrorism, arguing that whilst it is important that cyberterrorism is construed narrowly it is also important to recognise that it is qualitatively distinct from traditional forms of terrorism. After outlining the variety of ways in which terrorists may use the Internet in preparation for both cyber and non-cyber based attacks, the chapter then explains why terrorism precursor offences have been deemed necessary and argues that the notion of normative involvement offers both a principled basis on which to justify the criminalisation of preparatory activities as well as a yardstick for evaluating whether these offences overreach. Finally, the chapter considers another suggestion for limiting the scope of the precursor offences: stipulating that inherently innocent conduct should fall outside the scope of the criminal law. It argues that this proposal is problematic and that a more fruitful approach would be to strengthen the extra-legal constraints on prosecutorial discretion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Terrorism Act 2000, s. 40-41.

  2. 2.

    Terrorism Act 2000, s. 43.

  3. 3.

    Terrorism Act 2000, s. 41(7) & schedule 8.

  4. 4.

    Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011, s. 3.

  5. 5.

    Three of the men (the ringleader, his right hand man and the explosives expert) were convicted of conspiracy to murder aircraft passengers using explosives. The other four (the would-be suicide bombers) were convicted of conspiracy to murder. See R v Ali (Ahmed) & others [2011] EWCA Crim 1260.

  6. 6.

    Criminal Attempts Act 1981, s. 1(1).

  7. 7.

    (1990) 93 Cr App R 350.

  8. 8.

    [2009] UKHL 13.

  9. 9.

    [2008] EWCA Crim 185.

  10. 10.

    Indirect encouragement includes any statement which ‘glorifies’ the commission or preparation of terrorist acts (whether past, present or future) if members of the public could reasonably infer from the statement that they should emulate the conduct being glorified (Terrorism Act 2006, s. 1(3)).

  11. 11.

    Terrorism Act 2006, s. 1(6).

  12. 12.

    Simester’s proposal is based on the reasoning of the House of Lords in the indecent assault case R v Court [1989] AC 28.

  13. 13.

    One well-known example is the House of Lords’ judgment in DPP v Gomez [1993] AC 442 on the meaning of the word ‘appropriates’ in the offence of theft. Whilst Lord Lowry’s dissenting judgment emphasised the meaning the Criminal Law Revision Committee intended the word to have, Lord Keith in his majority judgment stated that to look at the Committee’s intention would serve ‘no useful purpose’.

  14. 14.

    The reports are available on the CPS website (www.cps.gov.uk).

  15. 15.

    Terrorism Act 2000, s. 117; Terrorism Act 2006, s. 19.

  16. 16.

    [2010] EWCA Crim 3215.

Further Reading and Resources

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  • Marchand SA (2010) An ambiguous response to a real threat: criminalizing the glorification of terrorism in Britain. George Wash Int Law Rev 42:123–157

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  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2012) The use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. United Nations, New York

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  • Weimann G (2004) How modern terrorism uses the Internet. United States Institute of Peace special report 116

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  • Weimann G (2006) Terror on the Internet: the new arena, the new challenges. United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, DC

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW, UK

    Lord Carlile QC

  2. College of Law, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Stuart Macdonald

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  1. Lord Carlile QC
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  2. Stuart Macdonald
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Correspondence to Stuart Macdonald .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Math Sciences, City University London, London, United Kingdom

    Thomas M. Chen

  2. School of Political, Social and International Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom

    Lee Jarvis

  3. College of Law, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom

    Stuart Macdonald

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Carlile QC, L., Macdonald, S. (2014). The Criminalisation of Terrorists’ Online Preparatory Acts. In: Chen, T., Jarvis, L., Macdonald, S. (eds) Cyberterrorism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0962-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0962-9_9

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