Judges Conference

"Freedom and Security in Constitu­tional Democracies: A Transatlantic Dialogue"

 

On April 28th und 29th, 2010 the Dräger Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation organized in cooperation with the Staatswissenschaftlichen Institut der Albert-Ludwig-Universität Freiburg and the Law School of Georgetown University a Constitutional Courts Summit on the above mentioned topic in Washington, D.C.

 

Constitutional freedom and internal security are the fundamental prerequisites for a democratic state based on the rule of law. The balancing act between security and freedom is one of the key constitutional questions, dominates the political discussion of police deployment and is the subject of important rulings in constitutional courts. New types of challenge, especially in connection with international terrorism, have shown that the USA and Europe hold differing views about the degree of state intervention and the protection of civil rights.

 

Important international security issues and the protection of civil liberties, however, must be brought into equilibrium on the international level, too. Thus a dialog concerning the differences and similarities in tackling the global challenges posed by international terrorism is particularly important.

 

In order to allow an intense dialogue, not more than 50 outstanding experts on international law contributed to the working sessions.