Developing Democracies, Counter-Terror Laws and Security: Lessons from India and Sri Lanka: RCSS Policy Studies 52

Published in association with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies in Sri Lanka, this book raises genuine security concerns that the Indian state attempts to address through various measures. The use of counter-terrorism legislation is one such means, employed especially by democracies. This study contends that legislation ought to adequately deter terrorist groups, but at the same time, prevent the state from encroaching on human rights of the innocents. The key questions addressed in the book are: Do counter-terrorism laws enhance security? If so, in what manner? If not, why and what are the problems involved? The study assumes that there is an inherent tension between state security and the security of its subjects, and it intends to fill the gap in the existing literature on legal aspects of terrorism and counter-terrorism.