Summary

In each country there are institutions which, inter alia, act in the name of security. Presumably, they are acting under the law. When people talk about security in the area of law, many initially think of the restriction of fundamental rights (such as refusal to grant a temporary residence permit or Estonian citizenship, implementation of further security measures in prisons, information activities). The term ‘security’ can be encountered in different laws, such as § 47 and § 130 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, subsection 13 (1) and § 124 of the Aliens Act, subsection 4¹ (2), clauses 15 (2) 1) and 3) and § 69 of the Imprisonment Act, subsection 1 (1) of the Security Authorities Act, subsection 21 (1) of the Citizenship Act, etc. This is not just a matter of domestic law – it also concerns international law: the United Nations joined their forces to maintain security, among other tasks. The list is extensive and it is not practical to present it in its entirety. However, it does pose a question, what exactly must be understood as security: what is the nature of security, who are the subjects covered by security, what is the object of security, what are internal and external security, what is the relationship between security and freedom, and what is a threat to security. The article is seeking answers to these questions.