International Law and Terrorism Issue

Security Council of the United Nation Organization, as the only place which has legal right and is authorized to use force in the international interactions. Important developments have occurred in multilateral international treaties between the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism of 1937 and the Inter- American Convention against Terrorism of 2002.
This article attempts to explore the question of changes which is occurred, as well as whether these laws have been an effective legal response in combating terrorism. After differentiating between comprehensive and sectoral conventions and between universal and regional conventions, the article comparatively analyzes them based on definitions of offenses, the extent of criminalization, exceptions concerning scope of application, measures to be taken by the states parties, obligatory and optional jurisdiction, obligations of states in the sphere of legal cooperation and assistance, rights of the offender, extradition, exceptions from extradition or legal assistance, and issues not covered by the conventions. Solutions proved to be the most effective against international terrorism and discrepancies and overlaps between the conventions are discussed.