International terrorism is one of the pressing contemporary challenges facing
international lawyers. In this ambitious work, Vincent-Joël Proulx seeks to
grapple with the notion of terrorism within the ambit of State responsibility,
and in particular, of indirect State responsibility for terrorist acts.
The work presents a two-tiered, strict liability-inspired model using a State’s
failure to prevent terrorist acts as the legal foundation for attributing responsibility.
Even if one might disagree with the bases on which the author constructs
his argument, the execution of the argument is solid and thorough. The coverage
of the major policy arguments and the available legal source materials is
equally impressive. Moreover, the author’s positions are genuinely progressive
and present a fairly innovative solution, in the form of a strict liability mechanism.
Although some might regard this approach as somewhat ahead of its
time, the present work may well come to be used by policy?makers seeking an
appropriate legal tool to prevent terrorism and to hold those responsible for terrorist
acts accountable. It behoves all scholars and practitioners of international
law with an interest in combating international terrorism to consider the proposals
outlined in this book.