Handbook

This course focuses on the relationship between the concepts of security, liberty and human rights. In particular, it offers a detailed examination of the theoretical and historical underpinnings of  “security” and “liberty” and analyses how these concepts translate into contemporary international (human rights)  and domestic law. It will consider selected works by traditional writers such as Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Mill, Schmitt as well as relevant theorists in the political science literature on security, including Wolfers, Baldwin and Buzan. The course will then cover selected case studies to illustrate tensions and convergences between the concepts of "liberty" and "security". These case studies will deal with a wide range of topics and will be vary from year to year. They include, but are not limited to privacy issues, homosexuality in the military, preventive justice, preventive detention of offenders at the risk of recidivism, national security, counter-terrorism, coup d'etats, emergency derogations and the process of limiting rights, extradition and deportation for security reasons, torture and ticking bomb scenarios, freedom of expression and incitement to violence. What all case studies have in common is that they originate in a long-standing predicament of the liberal democratic state: how far are we prepared to go to create a “secure” environment for ourselves without getting caught in our own security net? 

Main Topics

• Preventive justice
• National security
• Coupes d’état and human rights
• Emergency derogations and the process of limiting rights
• Extradition and deportation of individuals for security reasons
• Torture and ticking bomb scenarios
• Freedom of expression and incitement to violence