Watching the Watchmen

Intelligence has come to play an increasingly important role in the shaping of policy and policing action around the world. Democratic Oversight of Intelligence Services reflects upon democratic principles applicable to the intelligence sector and the proper oversight mechanisms to install accountability for organisations that operate under a cloak of secrecy. By its very nature, the collection of intelligence also raises a number of ethical and moral questions and appropriate reforms need to be researched, discussed and debated. Reliable and realistic democratic systems of oversight must deal with special executive powers, the requirements of secrecy, the relationship between processes and structures and other hot-potato national security issues. This book addresses the development of, and the challenges and impediments to, democratic oversight and review of the intelligence community in Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and United Kingdom. The promotion of democratic oversight of the intelligence community has gained renewed significance in the aftermath of 9/11. Legal and administrative frameworks, executive prerogatives and power - and their potential abuses, operational work and analytical tradecraft, crisis management, human rights, state-sponsored detention and interrogation policy and the separation of powers are discussed. [National Library of Australia] ISBN: 978186287741