Vatican official says rule of law can't be abandoned for terrorists

Published: 2007-10-30

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The rule of law cannot be abandoned when dealing with terrorists, a Vatican official told the United Nations. Although terrorists may have no respect for legal systems, states risk compromising their legitimacy if they bend the rule of law in confronting terrorism, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, told one of the general assembly's main committees Oct. 26. "The struggle against terrorism is necessary, but at the same time it must be established through the drafting, adoption, and effective enforcement of juridical instruments designed to tackle this violent menace with right reason," said Archbishop Migliore, whose remarks were released at the Vatican. "The rule of law at times is difficult to apply to terrorists who have little or no respect for it. However, states must not engage in measures antithetical to the very principles that give them legitimacy through the rule of law," he said. Archbishop Migliore said the rule of law was the basis of international cooperation. He pointed to a recent expansion of cooperative efforts in international criminal justice, which has brought to trial people accused of crimes against humanity.

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