EU Counter-Terrorism Law: Pre-Emption and the Rule of Law

This study of the EU response to the 11 September 2001 attacks demonstrates how European counter-terrorism law strengthens state powers of coercion and control and weakens the rule of law. In this expanded edition a new Afterword examines mass surveillance in Europe and the implications for data privacy, the increasing court scrutiny of counter-terrorist finance measures, and policies that aim to prevent combatants from taking part in terrorism overseas. It asks where the limits of legality lie - and whether courts and parliaments can safeguard political freedom in the face of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism.

‘ … expertly analyses the principal strands of the EU’s response - criminalisation, measures against terrorist financing, targeted sanctions, data surveillance and European Warrants … Unique in its range and its depth, this is the essential guide to EU counter-terrorism law’. David Anderson QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation

‘ … a comprehensive treatise on the European Union’s tightening net of legal instruments aiming to constrain terrorism … presents the law within its political and philosophical context …’. Christina Eckes, Public Law

‘ … impressively ahead of its time: coming before the Snowden revelations of quite how far counter-terrorism has been prepared to go, Murphy’s book both prepares us for shocks like this and suggests a way that Europe can (and should) react’. Conor Gearty, Cambridge Law Journal