Securing Legality

Drawing on theoretical, legal and policy material, Securing Legality seeks to develop a robust normative framework in which to understand the relationship between security, the rule of law and human rights. The book challenges the entrenched dichotomy, commonly invoked by activists, analysts and scholars, of the rule of law and human rights on the one hand and security on the other. It argues that security actors often fail adequately to grasp the role of law and legal legitimacy in their conceptions of security, while guardians of legality too easily overlook the intrinsic and explicit role that security plays in our conception of the rule of law and human rights.

At the same time Securing Legality warns against the risk of ‘securitising law’, a process whereby the rule of law and human rights is increasingly viewed through the narrow lens of security. The book seeks to re-conceptualise the relationship between law and security, arguing that the concept of security should concern not only the safety of society, but also the value of its broader social arrangements.