The terrorist attacks occurred in the United States on 11 September 2001 have profoundly altered and reshaped the priorities of criminal justice systems around the world. Atrocities like the 9/11 attacks, the Madrid train bombings of March 2003, and the terrorist act to the United Kingdom of July 2005 threatened the life of democratic nations. The volume explores the response of democratic nation-states to the problems of terrorism and counter-terrorism within the framework of the Rule of Law. One of the primary subjects of study is the ways in which the interests of the state (security from external threats, the maintenance of civil peace, and the promotion of the commonwealth) are balanced or not with the liberty and freedom of the citizens of the state. The distinctive aspect of this focus is that it brings a historical, political, philosophical and comparative approach to the contemporary shape and purposes of the criminal justice systems around the world.

Contributors.- About the Contributors.- Introduction: Security, Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Countering Terrorism in the Post 9/11 Era; Aniceto Masferrer.- Part I State Power and Legal Responses from an Historical Perspective.- Chapter 1 The State Power and the Limits of the Principle of Sovereignty: An Historical Approach: Aniceto Masferrer   and Juan A. Obarrio.- Chapter 2 Legal Concepts of Terrorism as Political Crime and International Criminal Law in 18th and 19th Century Europe; Karl Härter.-  Part II Defining Terrorism.-  Chapter 3 Civilising the Exception: Universally Defining Terrorism; by Ben Saul.-  Chapter 4 Terrorism: Limits between Crime and War. The Fallacy of the Slogan 'War on Terror'; Mariona Llobet.-  Part III Keeping Counter-Terrorism Within The Criminal Law Justice? .-  Chapter 5 The Impact of Contemporary Security Agendas against Terrorism on the Substantive Criminal Law;  Clive Walker.-  Chapter 6 The War on Terror and Crusading Judges: Re-establishing the Primacy of the Criminal Justice System; Francesca M. Galli.-  Chapter 7 Secret Evidence and its Alternatives;  Kent Roach.-  Chapter 8 Evolution of British Law on Terrorism: From Ulster to Global Terrorism (1970-2010); Leandro Martínez-Peñas & Manuela Fernández-Rodríguez.-  Chapter 9 Australian Responses to 9/11: New World Legal Hybrids? Simon Bronitt & Susan Donkin.-  Chapter 10 Democratic States' Response to Terrorism: A Comparative Reflection on the Perceived Role of the Judiciary in the Protection of Human Rights and Civil Liberties Marinella Marmo.-  Chapter 11 The U.S. Response to Cuban and Puerto Rican Right-Wing Terrorism in the pre and post 9/11 Era José M. Atiles-Osoria.-  Part  IV Counter-Terrorism from an International-Law Perspective.-  Chapter 12 Permanent Legal Emergencies and the Derogation Clause in International Human Rights Treaties: A Contradiction?; Christopher Michaelsen.-  Chapter 13 National Self-Defence in theAge of Terrorism: Immediacy and State Attribution; Mark Kielsgard.