Radicalisation: A concept used in the courtroom?

• In Event: EXTR4 Terrorism and Extremism: Legal perspectives and the courts

Abstract

The radicalisation process is often portrayed in the literature as a pathway. Whilst the author has built a meta-framework which embodies the current state of research on phase models of radicalisation (De Coensel, 2018), no research has been conducted on the use and operationalisation of these phases in the courtroom. Nevertheless, there is a severe risk that phase models are used as conclusive proof in court, since criminal liability has been increasingly expanded to risk-involving behaviour that corresponds to early phases of the radicalisation process. This presentation will demonstrate to what extent and how the concept of radicalisation is used to motivate the conviction of terrorist offenders by conducting a systematic, qualitative content analysis of over 117 Belgian court rulings pronounced between 2012 and 2020 on terrorism-related acts. Through this systematic content analysis crucial insights are provided on the operationalisation of the concept in a real-life context and its consequences regarding criminal liability, as well as on the profiles of convicted terrorist offenders.

Author

• Stéphanie De Coensel, FWO Postdoctoral Researcher & Visiting Professor Ghent University