ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the legal definition of terrorism that policing agencies use during investigations to assess if an act is one of terrorism. It demonstrates how much of a catalyst the Al Qaeda attack on the US on 11 September 2001 has been on Western states introducing legislation that, on the whole, is comparable between the respective states. The chapter discusses how the courts have interpreted what amounts to a religious cause that motivates acts of terrorism. Compatibility in law is important in relation to intelligence exchange and cooperation between the states' counter-terrorism agencies. What is interesting is how the Commonwealth countries such as Canada and the UK have similar phrasing in their anti-terrorism legislation. Terrorism and crime are staples of political discourse and of electoral politics as can be seen in the way individuals or groups within communities can be used to demonise whole communities in society.
