Protecting Victims of Terrorism in the Light of Global Criminology: International Experiences and Developments in the Early Third Millennium

Abstract

AbstractThe relationship between terrorism and criminology illustrates the global feature of crime. Terrorism is presently at the top of the fields of interest of global criminology. However, the issue of victims of terrorism has been neglected in its research agenda. This article seeks to redefine global criminology and victimology by incorporating that issue into their fields of interest. It attempts to answer key questions like: What is the typical model for protecting the victims of terrorism? How could a more operative and effective system be created for that purpose? The European and the United Nations systems are two models that provide international experiences, developments and efforts. Since they generally form a soft law-based system, the author concludes that a protection-oriented system for victims of terrorism will be more operative and effective when it is transformed into one based on hard law.