Legal Perspectives On Security Institutions

Security is a dynamic, context-dependent concept that is inevitably shaped by social conditions and practices. The socio-political perception of security threats influences our security policies relevant to political decisions about the design of social institutions specifically addressing those security concerns. Security is traditionally understood to be physical protection of national territory and its population from the destructive effects of warfare through military means--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Provides a fresh perspective on ASEAN's role for regional security in Southeast Asia.

Explores the tensions that arise when institutions address contemporary security threats.

National Security Law is a comprehensive handbook that focuses on the law and legal instruments governing the Canadian state's response to events that jeopardize its national security. This text, part of Irwin Law's Essentials of Canadian Law series, is informed by international and comparative law. It is up to date to the end of July 2007.

In 1994, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) coined the term 'human security' in the seminal UNDP Human Development Report. This report approached 'security' for the first time from a holistic perspective: security would no longer be viewed from a purely military perspective, but rather it would encapsulate economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. Although the concept of human security accords a higher status to individual interests rather than to governmental interests, human security discourses have continually emphasized the central role of States as providers of human security. This volume challenges this paradigm and highlights the part played by non-State actors in threatening human security, as well as in rescuing or providing relief to those whose human security is endangered. The book does so from a legal perspective, (international) law being one of the instruments used to realize human security, as well as being a material source or guiding principle for the formation of human security-enhancing policies. In particular, the book critically discusses how various non-State actors - such as armed opposition groups, multinational corporations, private military/security companies, non-governmental organizations, and national human rights institutions - participate in the construction of such policies and how they are held legally accountable for their adverse impact on human security. (Series: International Law - Vol. 12)

Security and law against the backdrop of technological development.Few people doubt the importance of the security of a state, its society and its organizations, institutions and individuals, as an unconditional basis for personal and societal flourishing. Equally, few people would deny being concerned by the often occurring conflicts between security and other values and fundamental freedoms and rights, such as individual autonomy or privacy for example. While the search for a balance between these public values is far from new, ICT and data-driven technologies have undoubtedly given it a new impulse. These technologies have a complicated and multifarious relationship with security.This book combines theoretical discussions of the concepts at stake and case studies following the relevant developments of ICT and data-driven technologies. Part I sets the scene by considering definitions of security. Part II questions whether and, if so, to what extent the law has been able to regulate the use of ICT and datadriven technologies as a means to maintain, protect or raise security, in search of a balance between security and other public values, such as privacy and equality. Part III investigates the regulatory means that can be leveraged by the law-maker in attempts to secure products, organizations or entities in a technological and multiactor environment. Lastly, Part IV, discusses typical international and national aspects of ICT, security and the law.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has achieved deeper regional market integration to lay a socio-economic foundation for the development of a regional community, yet inter-state trust is by no means assured as Southeast Asian nations remain steadfast in maintaining their political regime stability against external interference. However, through its institutional practices, ASEAN has emerged as a distinct model of security institution, while the region's contemporary security landscape has diversified with various non-traditional security issues. By looking beyond the veneer of diplomacy and prevailing political circumstances, this book examines the legal nature and form of ASEAN's authority to address diverse regional security issues. It provides a fresh perspective on ASEAN's role as a security institution. With an interdisciplinary analysis, this book reveals the normative role that ASEAN plays in facilitating the processes of norm development, localisation and internalisation as it deals with contemporary security challenges confronting Southeast Asia.

Years of surveillance-related leaks from US whistleblower Edward Snowden have fuelled an international debate on privacy, spying, and Internet surveillance. Much of the focus has centered on the role of the US National Security Agency, yet there is an important Canadian side to the story. The Communications Security Establishment, the Canadian counterpart to the NSA, has played an active role in surveillance activities both at home and abroad, raising a host of challenging legal and policy questions. With contributions by leading experts in the field, Law, Privacy and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era is the right book at the right time: From the effectiveness of accountability and oversight programs to the legal issues raised by metadata collection to the privacy challenges surrounding new technologies, this book explores current issues torn from the headlines with a uniquely Canadian perspective.