Принципы правового регулирования международного сотрудничества в борьбе с актами терроризма

Abstract

The international community encountered the necessity to counteract terrorism more actively in the end of the 1960s- the beginning of the 1970s. In this particular period terrorist acts were widely used as means of political struggle and influencing the political processes of the society. Naturally, the world community responded by cooperation in the field of combatting terrorism. When systematizing the existing practice of coordination of the efforts of the world community against terrorist acts, it should be mentioned that it is based on 11 fundamental international conventions. The cooperation in the field of combatting terrorism is also carried out within international organizations that elaborated fundamental programme final documents. Concerning the post-soviet states, it should be underlined that after the disintegration of the single legal space of the former USSR, the criminal world integrated quickly in contrast to the political world of the region. The police and secret services of the USSR member-states lost their centre, thus reducing the efficiency of their independent efforts in combatting crime. Since 1991 a range of fundamental interstate normative acts have been signed in order to coordinate efforts in combatting terrorism and other forms of grave criminal offences in the Commonwealth of Independent States. However, the provisions fixed are not precise enough, therefore making the opportunity of their application by different states harder in specific cases. In this connection, the world community with respect to the needs and particular legislative models of all countries and for the realization of the international agreements adopted a range of legislative acts aimed at prevention and stopping terrorism. A series of bold terrorist acts in Kizlyar and Pervomayski, explosions of apartment houses in Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk and a large antiterrorist operation in Chechnya gave a strong impetus to the codification process in the sphere of combatting terrorist acts in Russia. The codification activities in this sphere also continue in Belarus with respect to broad international practice in legislation development. The analysis of foreign legislation shows certain regularities of legal regulation of combatting terrorism, which are of interest for legislation development activities in Belarus. 1) codification of the legislative norms in the field of combatting terrorism contributes to their more efficient application; 2) domestic law of the states should give timely response to the changes in the international treaty practice consistently reflecting all its positive aspects; 3) despite the trend towards legislation liberalization common to the developed states, they fix enhanced penalty for committing terrorist acts and participating in terrorist acts; 4) criminal prosecution for acts of the violence against individuals who fall within special protection right is fixed by the norms of the so-called emergency antiterrorist law; 5) during the development and adoption of legislative and other normative acts regulating combatting crime it is important to consider the special features of the socio-political and criminal situation in Belarus.