About the project
22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik massacred 77 people in a terrorist attack commonly referred to in Norway as '22 July'. The State responded with a rule of law approach to rebuild societal security. Yet beyond the criminal trial, the legal responses, including bureaucratic practices and regulatory techniques, have not been researched. To enhance future preparedness and public accountability, this knowledge gap must be bridged.
Asking what is the role of legal responses in rebuilding and strengthening societal security after violent extremist attacks, this interdisciplinary, qualitative project develops a conceptual and empirical basis for exploring the legal ripple effects of 22 July, implicating multiple fields of public and private law.
Objectives
Combining socio-legal approaches, doctrinal law, ethics and urban studies, this project examines legal ripple effects of the 22 July attack in Norway, with a comparative study of terror attacks in Manchester, UK.
Outcomes
- RIPPLES will produce systematic knowledge about the legal aspects of 22 July and The Manchester terror attacks, and support policy makers and legal practitioners by providing knowledge about law's role in societal security after extremist violence.
- The project contributes to societal security scholarship by integrating critical security studies, socio-legal studies, and doctrinal law. The transdisciplinary and international nature of the project will strengthen the portfolios of participating institutions.
- LAW22JULY is a UiO, Faculty of Law initiative to provide knowledge to the Norwegian public and our students. The acronym 'LAW' stands for 'learning, accountability, witnessing'. The pedagogic component of RIPPLES will have long-lasting relevance for legal and societal security education.
Background
The project is run collaboratively by Department for Public and International Law, Department of Private Law and Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law.
The project is qualitative and multidisciplinary, drawing on perspectives and methods from legal studies, ethics, sociology of law, criminology, critical geography and critical security studies.
Work Packages
- Urban security: The role of law in the reconstruction of post-terrorism space and the securitization of urban space and urban life.
- Citizenship and rights: The role of welfare provision (livelihood/compensation) as contributors to societal security and resilience.
- Rule of law: political economy, societal security and the resilience of the rule of law.
Financing
Research Council of Norway - SAMRISK programme 01.01.2020-30.09.2023