Human rights under anti-terrorism laws: can restriction of civil liberties for the sake of public safety be justified or is this approach unacceptable?
- Komal Sabhnani
- July 5, 2020
Content :
The question is, the problem of how to protect the community from terrorism while at the same time respecting fundamental human rights. In legal terms, the challenge can be expressed simply: how can anti-terrorism laws be enacted that confer extraordinary powers upon government and its agencies while at the same time not undermining the democratic freedoms we are seeking to protect from terrorism?
In many ways, this makes these laws of a greater significance than the exceptional measures typically found on the statute book during World Wars I and II. Those conflicts were of more definite duration and wartime legal measures ceased to operate soon after the conflict ended. By contrast, modern anti-terrorism laws have taken on a character of permanence, as the so-called "war on terror" has run for a longer period than those worldwide conflicts combined and continues unabated with no likely end in sight. In addition, while a few anti-terrorism laws are the subject of "sunset clauses" that could see them lapse after a specified period of time, most have effect for an indefinite duration. All this points to the conclusion that anti-terrorism laws may be altered in the coming years but will not likely be repealed.
