Lawfare and territorial conflicts

This chapter illustrates the use of state lawfare in internal territorial conflicts. It analyses, for example, the use of state lawfare in historical cases such as the territorial dispossession of Native Americans in the United States. Additionally, it examines state lawfare applied to secessionist conflicts such as Northern Ireland, the Basque Country and Catalonia. This chapter shows that while state lawfare can be a key instrument for central governments in territorial domestic conflicts, it has potentially significant drawbacks for the long-term solution of grievances and can even harm fundamental liberal rights in democratic systems.