Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Control of the Security Sector

The special cases as emergency, crises, internal conflicts and war are inseparable component
of both the design and implementation of civil supremacy and democratic control over security
sector organizations. The essence of the problem here is in the requirement the package of
legal texts to set conditions for highly effective institutional performance and, at the same time to
keep the opportunities civil authorities to continue to take the key decisions and to perform
control functions in accordance with the democratic principles. It does not matter how vital could
be the situation around national or societal security in the exceptional cases – the national
legislation should not completely inhibit the powers of the parliament to oversee the actions of
the executive, the president (in the cases when he is supreme commander of the Armed
Forces), and particularly of security organizations.
Part VI
DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF THE SECURITY SECTOR IN WAR
Regardless of the statement of Article 2.4 of the UN Charter that “the member states of the
Organization shall abstain, in their international relations, from resorting to the threat or use of
force …,” as well as of other international humanitarian law restrictions, military aggression and
several types of emergency could require military response or even declaration of martial law.
Such responses ought to be applied without affecting the democratic system of the country.
Despite the fact that many people wish that war disappeared, it would continue to be a part of
the lives of people, now, and in the years to come. Because the issue of democratic control of
the security sector in war will continue to be essential for the military, for politicians, and for the
general citizenry of the nation, the question then arises: how and under what circumstances is a
nation justified in either going to war or refraining from participation in military actions?
Chapter 17
Democratic Control of the Security Sector in Time of War
One country could be in a war de facto or de jure. This is a post-Second World War phenomenon.
The last declaration of war was made on September 3, 1939 when the ambassadors of
France and the United Kingdom visited the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to declare war in
accomplishment of their alliance obligations to Poland. Since then more than 150 conflicts have
occurred without formal declaration of war.
Despite this the regulations for keeping the democratic control effective during war remains
an important democracy building block. During the extreme time of war the execution of democratic
control over the armed forces is a source of national integrity and should be aimed at providing
enthusiasm, readiness for sacrifice and support to the forces. However, any aspect of the
democratic procedures should not diminish the effectiveness of the combat and other supporting
operations.
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