ABSTRACT
This chapter examines international criminal law has so far had very little to do with the accountability of the transnational terrorist group as a collective entity and a fundamental consequence of that actuality. It also examines whether it makes a difference for international criminal law if its applicants are complex adaptive systems, a concept derived from complexity theory. The chapter considers the friction between the objective of international criminal law to investigate and prosecute those most responsible for international crimes on the one hand and its failure to address collective entities on the other. International criminal law pays very little attention to this accountability distribution dilemma, and the literature on moral responsibility for guidance. The chapter introduces systems theory to explain why the problem has been so difficult to resolve. The theory argues that as a complex adaptive system the transnational terrorist group is not always reducible to its individual members.
