Where Now for European Social Democracy? - Policy Network

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Freedom in Security:A Social Democratic VisionBRIGITTE ZYPRIESFreedom and security are social democratic valuesSince the dreadful terror attacks on September 11th, 2001, in almostall states the topic of security has appropriately been at the top of thepolitical agenda. In addition, crimes of violence, which are reportedin detail in the media, have also caused ‘security’ to become ofsignificant concern for a broad section of the population. Widespreadfeelings of fear and powerlessness among the general public,especially in regards to sexual murders and similar crimes, havepromoted calls for a ‘strong state.’ In consequence, there is a feelingthat for the benefit of security, individual freedom should retreat intothe background.This reveals the tense relationship between freedom and security– a field of tension with which we have long been concerned. This hasbeen a subject of consideration in policy and law for hundreds of years.As an outcome of the Enlightenment, the state’s monopoly on theuse of force was set against an area of personal freedom as anindividual value and a legal limit on state power was demanded. Socialdemocracy in particular is strongly committed to the values of theEnlightenment and, therefore, to freedom. Unlike any other party inGermany, social democracy has historically fought against oppressionand exploitation. It is the party of freedom and recognises thatsecuring freedom is a ongoing task. This is also something that we asthe federal government of the Federal Republic of Germany see as aparticular challenge in these times. Creating a reasonable balancebetween freedom and security is imperative.We do not, and need not, seek to match the call of conservative85
86WHERE NOW FOR EUROPEAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY?politicians for placing ‘law and order’ above all else. When GermanCDU/CSU politicians for example – as recently occurred – demand acurfew for all minors under the age of 14 during the evening hours,seriously consider electronic monitoring with leg cuffs for schooltruants, or support comprehensive video monitoring for entire cities,in my opinion these are over-exaggerated demands that no longermaintain the balance between personal freedom and security.Criminal prosecution must be effective and reasonableWe must create a balance between security and freedom especiallywith modern criminal procedure investigation methods.On the one hand, procedural forms must be made available toensure conviction of offenders and thereby the protection of thecommunity from crime to the greatest extent possible. On the otherhand, we must at the same time ensure that innocent people are notconvicted and that personal freedoms will be intruded upon to theleast extent possible, consistent with the goal of effective criminalprosecution.In Germany, the extent to which we want to expand DNA analysisfor purposes of criminal prosecution is currently under discussion. DNAanalysis has been hailed as almost a miracle cure in the recent past forefficient investigation of crimes. Indeed, the demand to enlarge thestatutory possibilities for these methods is repeatedly made.There have already been numerous recommendations in this field:every citizen should be included, at least all men, at the very least allpersons who have committed a crime with a sexual background. Therehas even been talk of using the opportunity of minor drug cases toexamine molecular genetic data in individual cases.Time and again the requirement of judicial authority – that is, therequirement in Germany that only a judge can order molecular genetictesting – becomes a point of disagreement. The assertion has evenbeen made that the judge hinders effective criminal prosecution.It is unmistakable that this discussion has populist featuresparticularly because of the impact of terrible crimes against smallchildren. When looked at more closely it is often immediately clear
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Published in 2004 by Policy Network
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AcknowledgementsThis collection of
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Notes on the ContributorsTony Blair
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PrefaceTONY BLAIRI welcome this pub
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What is a just society?For a radica
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Where Now for European Social Democracy? - Policy Network

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