Preventive Justice: Law, Theory And Practice

This thesis asks: given the events, legislation and literature already dedicated to preventive justice – in particular concerning terrorist (and adjacent) legislation – what reforms should be considered to this controversial area of criminal justice? To answer this question, Chapter 1 lays out the relevant terms and explores the thesis’s central question. Chapter 2 explores how prevention has been introduced into the UK’s criminal and civil legal systems through the examination of legal statutes and judicial proceedings. Chapter 3 addresses the state’s interest in prevention, how it benefits the state, and the normative problems posed by prevention. Chapter 4 explores the same issue from the point of view of the individual citizen. In particular, it asks what responsibilities a citizen has in regard to the state. Chapter 5 seeks to unite the empirical and normative branches of preventive justice through a discussion of the Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measure. It includes a discussion of how it could reformed, and of how this reflects on the ongoing debate around preventive justice.