Introduction to Constitutional Law in Security Policy

Abstract

The lecture deals with questions of competence and the security policy instruments, conveys the basic principles of police law and deals with the management of extraordinary situations. Further topics are the army, civil protection, the intelligence service, the legal status of army members, the private security service providers and international aspects.

Objective

The students - understand the constitutional order relevant to the security policy and know the basic concepts of security law; - can explain special (situation-dependent) legal forms of action; - understand the tasks and the interaction of the actors within the legal framework of the security policy; - know the army's mission and refer legally to the types of deployment available for order fulfillment; - know the basic principles as well as individual characteristics of civilian-military cooperation; - evaluate police powers and practices of military associations in its respective context; - describe the legal position of members of the army as well as the special responsibility of persons in a chain of command; - outline the importance of human rights in the context of actions of the security policy actors; - assess current security challenges.

Content

Following an introduction, the legal foundations of the Swiss security policy will be presented in the first part. The security constitution and the security policy instruments of the Confederation and the cantons shall be assessed critically. Then the basic principles of police action in the constitutional state will be explained referring to individual examples. Subject of the second part is the army. In addition to their constitutional anchoring and their tasks are examined from a legal point of view according to the relevant regulations. Special attention is given to the army's police powers. This will be followed in a third part by an examination of the cooperation between civilian and military authorities within Switzerland and abroad. In a fourth part, attention will be given to the areas of private security, intelligence, and the legal position of the army members. An overview of legal protection completes the lecture. The last hour before the exam will be a repetition reserved for questions.

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