ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The catastrophic terror attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 (9/11) were the trigger for many countries to re-evaluate their counter terrorism strategies and laws, and adopt stringent counter-terrorism legislation. Preventive detention is used in at least forty countries, which between them are home to approximately 70 percent of the world's population. Many scholars have debated the inadequacies of the current legal frameworks for detention, and the need for finding the most appropriate legal model to govern detention of terror suspects that might serve as a global paradigm. In a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, immigration law is frequently used for counter-terrorism purposes to preventively detain non-national suspected terrorists. Most states that use preventive detention in the counter-terrorism context regard it as a law enforcement tool.
