Terror versus Terrorist Attack

Abstract

The scientific article Terror versus Terrorist Attack compares the constituent elements of the criminal offence of terror under Sections 313 and 314 of the Criminal Code with the criminal offence of a terrorist attack under Section 419 of the Criminal Code. It also employs the method of historical comparison, as it was necessary for the scientific conclusions to elucidate the development of the criminal offence of terror beginning in 1956, as well as the development of the criminal offence of a terrorist attack beginning in 2002. The core scientific hypothesis was confirmed: the situations encompassed by the criminal offence of terror are fully covered (absorbed) by the criminal offence of a terrorist attack. The offence of terror under Sections 313 and 314 of the Criminal Code will never be applied in practice, as precedence will always be given to the offence of a terrorist attack under Section 419 of the Criminal Code. Consequently, in its current wording, the offence of terror constitutes an obsolete criminal offence.