Public support for emergency (anti‐terrorist) legislation in Northern Ireland: A preliminary analysis

Abstract

Abstract Anti‐terrorist legislation in the United Kingdom is premised upon the assumption that the existence of special criminal procedures for terrorist offenses will not affect how citizens evaluate the legitimacy of the legal process and of legal institutions more generally. I examine the implications and question the plausibility of that assumption in this article. For my analysis, I shall rely upon public opinion data concerning the extent to which Roman Catholics and Protestants support the emergency legislation and special courts in Northern Ireland. My findings suggest, contrary to the assumptions upon which the emergency legislation is predicated, that certain aspects of the emergency legislation have seriously eroded public confidence in the administration of criminal justice in Northern Ireland. This finding has considerable significance for societies that hope to control political terrorism by relying upon modified versions of the rule of law.