Criminal-Law Counteraction to Acts of Terrorism: Main Trends in Russian Research Dissertations (2010-2020)

Abstract

The threat of terrorism is and will, in the foreseeable future, remain highly urgent for all states and societies. In this connection, numerous problems (including criminal law ones) of counteracting terrorism attract close attention of both Russian and foreign researchers who work in various fields of knowledge. Russian dissertation theses of the past decade are dominated by the idea that acts of terrorism are specific threats to security and present a general (total) danger. It is becoming more and more common within the Russian doctrine to present formalized definitions of terrorism (terrorist activities) in its criminal law sense. On the other hand, a relatively new trend is the research of terrorism (terrorist activities) and its potential consequences within the framework of contemporary global threats, specifically, the analysis of the problem of terrorist activities in connection with the activities of international terrorist organizations. The authors stress that Russian researchers pay much attention to the emergence of potentially new terrorist threats (cyberterrorism, environmental terrorism) and develop counteraction measures. Research of specific manifestations of terrorism is focused on acts of terrorism, which are viewed as the «core» of all terrorist activities. On the other hand, legislative extension of the list of terrorist crimes became an object of close attention for Russian authors. A popular trend in criminal law research is analyzing assistance to terrorism, financing terrorism, public calls for performing acts of terrorism, public justification and propaganda of terrorism. One of the most widely discussed problems is that of criminalizing organized forms of terrorist activities (creation of terrorist groups and organizations, and participation in their activities) and criminalizing the act of international terrorism. A large-scale discussion was connected with the introduction of a norm that established the criminal character of failing to report a terrorist crime. The analysis of Russian dissertation theses devoted to various aspects of criminal law counteraction to terrorism (terrorist activities) of 2010–2020 shows that Russian and foreign research shares key trends. It is concluded that, in spite of some criticism of the corresponding clauses in criminal legislation, most Russian researchers support the hard-line approach to counteracting terrorism. This approach presupposes further strengthening of repressions for crimes of terrorism, reducing or eliminating the possibility of using incentive norms of criminal legislation towards persons who committed terrorist crimes.