Terror attacks such as those executed in the United States, Bali, Istanbul and India in recent years render beyond doubt the challenge facing the international community to address effectively the scourge of international terrorism. They also present countless challenges for international scholars and practitioners. These include: ensuring the centrality of law, and the uncompromising governance of the principle of legality, in the highly charged debate on countering the terrorist threat; advancing an understanding of the law as sufficiently clear and accessible to provide a meaningful framework for action; demonstrating that the law enables, and indeed obliges, states to take effective measures against terrorism, and is inherently responsive to the security challenges posed by international terrorism; where the law is unsettled or unclear, or mechanisms and procedures ineffective or inadequate, promoting normative clarification or reform; monitoring, and seeking accountability in respect of, violations of international law. This article hopes to make a modest contribution to these enormous challenges. It seeks principally to address the question whether there is an identifiable framework of international law capable of addressing issues related to these grave violations.

Keywords: Terrorism; International Law; State Responsibility.