Stigall on comparative law and counterterrorism

Earlier this year, Cambria Press published Dan Stigall, Counterterrorism and the comparative law of investigative detention (2009). The book's description is as follows:

The years since the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001, have seen dramatic developments in the recognized challenges to U.S. national security and in the ways the United States reacts to terrorist threats. Those reactions have demonstrated both the flexibility and limitations of U.S. criminal law in its ability to adapt to terrorism. A focus on the perceived limitations of U.S. criminal law in this regard has led to calls from key players within the U.S. national security apparatus for an improved regime of investigative detention, such as those currently in place in the United Kingdom and France.

In response to the ongoing threat of domestic and international terrorism, governments across the globe have enacted counterterrorism legislation designed to facilitate the capture and interrogation of terrorist suspects. In that regard, key figures in the national security apparatus of the United States have specifically lamented the lack of an “investigative detention” mechanism, such as those that exist in France and the United Kingdom. This book, accordingly, details the investigative detention laws of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France in order to fully comprehend what an investigative regime does and how it functions. This book explicates the powers and limitations of investigative detention in each country and looks to see what aspects of the European investigative detention regimes might be exportable to the United States. Finally, this book offers a series of legislative proposals which would serve to enhance the investigative detention powers of law enforcement in the United States––particularly in the context of counterterrorism operations.

This book is the first focused look at the concept of investigative detention and counterterrorism. It is also the first book to analyze in detail the comparative law of investigative detention in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France––laying out exactly how each investigative detention regime works, what the extent of each country’s powers are, and examining their use in counterterrorism. As such, it is one of only a handful of “practical comparative law” books on the market––a book which not only illuminates the legal landscape of various countries, but also seeks to inform counterterrorism policy through a comparative analysis.

Counterterrorism and the Comparative Law of Investigative Detention is an important book for all those who study comparative law, national security, and counterterrorism. It is also an ideal book for policymakers and those seeking solutions to complex problems involving detention of terrorist suspects.

Rarely is a book so timely.