ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to show that the relation between terror and law is not a simple question that merely relates violence to law, but is connected to the very process of constitution-making. It shows the key place that intelligence-gathering occupies in this relation, and this activity, which has almost no mention in any constitution the world over, is the fulcrum on which reasons of State stand. Terror implies uncertainty that has the capacity to scare, ‘terrorise’ (since it is an exception to law). It is evocative of violence, symbolic violence, extraordinary methods, unaccountability, uncertain prospects, different rules (if you understand them) of engagement and murder, and different methods. Law reminds us of the principle of responsibility, and responsibility, as we know, is at the heart of constitutionalism. The colonial legal strategy in order to exclude some individuals and institutions from the rule of law depended on making ‘responsibility’ the cornerstone of legislating exercise.
