Security in the Constitutional State

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 4023663ENR for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Law and Criminology

Department

Metajuridica

Educational team

Maarten Colette (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture

Course Content

In this course security will be examined from the perspectrive of the history of ideas and of legal & political philosophy. In doing so, both factual evolutions in thinking about security and normative issues will be addressed. First, the historical roots of current thinking on security will be examined, using a broad sociological field of view related to late modernity. This broad field of view is then narrowed down to a criminological perspective on security. Issues addressed include: is security a responsibility that should be fulfilled by the state as a duty of care? What strategies are used within political rationality and the legal forum to obtain the goal of security? Is (supply & demand for/of) security 'self-evident' ("the more security, the better") or does it require special justification, such as the justification of punishment? The course then zooms in on the legal rationales related to security. The focus is on risk assessed criminal law, especially in relation to terrorism and other forms of organised crime. This is done from a power-critical perspective: risk justice seems irreconcilable with the classic retributive and retrospective principles of Belgian criminal law. This trend is reflected, for example, in the expansion of coercive administrative measures to combat terrorism and in the increase in criminal preparation.

The next section looks at positive human rights obligations arising from the ECtHR case law (the duty to protect the life and physical integrity of citizens) and, following on from this, at the absolute zero of a democratic civilisation that no longer pays attention to the ethical principles of criminal law: torture. The American counterterrorism strategy after 9/11 will be critically analysed, with special attention to the militarization of the penal law section directed towards terrorism. After 9/11 unchecked executive power grew out of proportion in the U.S. and this has been justified by lawyers and legal theorists on the basis of a lesser evil ethics and different variants of the “ticking bomb scenario”. The state of exception initially put in place in order to combat terrorism effectively in an emergency situation, gradually became normalized. Even the use of special interrogation techniques that were clearly torture (light) have been justified by the lawyers of the Office of Legal Council. This issue will be put under scrutiny from a philosophical and ethical perspective.

Furthermore, in relation to current issues, other themes may be addressed, such as security and the organisation of public space in a metropolitan context, narco-terrorism, the improper use of technological innovations to bring about security, or the question whether lay justice is still a topical instrument for adjudicating major terrorism cases.

Finally, the guest lectures will focus on the motivational aspects of radicalisation and the issue of the relationship between subjective (in)security and migration/ethnic profiling. The themes for the guest lectures will be reviewed from year to year. Further information will be put on Canvas at the start of the academic year.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Veiligheid, terrorisme en mensenrechten, Een reader met teksten, Canvas

Additional info

A digital reader will be available in Canvas. A PowerPoint presentation will be used in class.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

This course is a classical “ex cathedra” course. Students can ask questions and start a discussion. The aim of the course is to arouse their interest in subjects of legal philosophy and to stimulate a reflexive attitude in the study of the relation between liberty and security.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Examen Schriftelijk with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written exam: multiple choice exam.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context