Terror on Trial

Drawing on extensive terror trial ethnography, a multidisciplinary team examines how counter terrorism logics are reflected and negotiated within French courtrooms.

Based on hundreds of French terror trials including the 'trials for history'-this book explores how counterterrorism justice is shaped in French courts. Through courtroom immersion and interviews with judicial actors, it identifies three generations of trials, offering original insights into the evolving role of French courts in terrorism cases.Grounded in legal ethnomethodology, this book explores terrorism trials in France. Drawing on extensive court ethnography, a multidisciplinary research team examines how terrorism logics are reflected, represented, and negotiated within criminal proceedings. Based on hundreds of hearing days-ranging from small terrorism criminal cases to the so-called 'trials for history', commonly known as the 'Charlie Hebdo' and the 'Bataclan' trials-this study offers a nuanced, bottom-up perspective on the role of courts. Through courtroom immersion, close observation of legal performances, and interviews with judicial actors, it investigates how justice is shaped in practice. Identifying three generations of trials, the book provides original insights into the evolving role of courts in terrorism cases. From an empirical and comparative perspective, it also seeks to make criminal trials more accessible to Anglophone readers, offering a deeper understanding of how terrorism is prosecuted in France, highlighting the role of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and victims.