Justice is Bound: examining how the Rule of Law Impacts the Contents of Anti-Terrorism Legislation

Abstract

Does the pre-existing level of rule of law in a country impact the content of that country’s anti-terrorism legislation? The academic literature suggests that it might, but has not sufficiently examined this relationship. This thesis aims to fill that gap. I conduct three comparative case studies, examining 1) the Kyrgyz Republic vs. Mongolia, 2) Bangladesh vs. Indonesia and 3) Pakistan vs. the Philippines. In each case study, there is a significant difference in the rule of law between the countries compared, measured primarily by the World Justice Project Rule of Law Constraints index. Other variables that might impact the provisions of anti-terror legislation (i.e., electoral context, level of terror threat and the stimulus of the legislation) are similar between the countries compared. So, explanatory variables other than the rule of law are controlled in each case study. Hence, by comparing the provisions of the anti-terrorism legislation passed in the two countries, this thesis tests whether the rule of law predicts the content of anti-terror laws.

I find that across the case studies, weaker rule of law predicts anti-terrorism legislation that defines terrorism more broadly, endows anti-terrorism officials with broader-sweeping investigative powers, expands the admissibility of evidence, provides for weaker judicial oversight, and establishes weaker protections for the accused and weaker accountability measures for anti-terrorism officials. Conversely, stronger rule of law predicts anti-terrorism legislation that defines terrorism more narrowly, endows anti-terrorism officials with fewer investigative powers, does not expand evidence admissibility, provides for stronger judicial oversight, and establishes stronger protections for the accused and accountability measures. Ultimately, this thesis’ findings suggest that strengthening the rule of law can, in the long-term, lead to countries passing more internationally compliant and civil liberties-respecting anti-terrorism legislation.