Tension between Human Rights Protection and the Necessity to Ensure Public Security in the Context of Polish Anti-terrorism Law

Recurrent events of a terrorist character, especially those occurring not in arenas of armed conflict or in countries that are not – at least formally – at war with others, make it necessary not only to consider a redefinition of the state security systems, but also to reflect deeply on the human rights-inspired paradigms accepted hitherto. Regardless of one’s convictions and interpretation of current events, it is difficult to avoid repeating questions concerning the efficiency of public authorities and our legal system in the context of European experiences with terrorism. It is necessary to examine whether the commonly recognized constitutional and human rights standards facilitate the development by the state of instruments aimed at the effective prevention of terrorism. In the process of enacting and applying anti-terrorist laws one must pay heed to the mutual relations between goods protected and violated by a given regulation. As noted above, there is no freedom without security, but also there is no security without freedom. This tension makes a proportionality test very troublesome. The legislator should, above all, harmonize the axiological contexts of the provisions constructed thereby, so that they are orientated towards the protection of both security and freedom