Garlicki, Justice (retired) Lech --- "Concluding remarks" [2013] ELECD 688; in Cole, David; Fabbrini, Federico; Vedaschi, Arianna (eds), "Secrecy, National Security and the Vindication of Constitutional Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 322

Book Title: Secrecy, National Security and the Vindication of Constitutional Law

Editor(s): Cole, David; Fabbrini, Federico; Vedaschi, Arianna

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781953853

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: Concluding remarks

Author(s): Garlicki, Justice (retired) Lech

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

This book debates the role of constitutional law in elaborating a fair balance between secrecy, understood as a necessary tool to protect the national security, and human rights. Three introductory questions may help to put this debate into a broader perspective: How new is the inclination to resort to secret measures when the society is in danger? If so, is there anything new in the present crisis that distinguishes it from earlier historical situations? Is the modern constitutional doctrine better equipped to respond to the emerging problems and risks? In the twenty-first century, it cannot be denied that effective anti-terrorist measures require a fair amount of secrecy. But, at the same time, it may be useful to put this observation into a wider historical context. Although it is true that balancing secrecy, national security and constitutional law is particularly pertinent to the modern world, similar problems have existed for centuries. There have always been evil forces, genuine or imagined, perceived as a threat to society, and there has always been a strong belief that secret measures are particularly efficient to protect those who deserve such protection. The Holy Inquisition operated this way for several centuries. It was no accident that as modern society became more organized, matters of state security were assigned to different ‘secret’ services and institutions. And it was not a co- incidence that some of the most dreaded organizations of that kind, like the Nazi Gestapo, included the adjective ‘secret’ in their very names (Geheim Staatspolizei).