The Domination of Security and the Promise of Justice: On Justification and Proportionality in Europe’s “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice”

In this paper, I explore the connection between the notions of justice and justification in an European Union (EU) security-related context. I argue that a full comprehension of these notions enhances the legitimacy of the EU’s ‘Area of Freedom, Security and Justice’ (AFSJ) project. However, we still need to go further when investigating justice’s potential as a theoretical device for navigating the future of AFSJ law. This paper contends that we need to analyse justice in the AFSJ by starting from the position of security as domination. Only by doing so can we understand the capabilities of the EU for realising justice and freedom in a largely security-driven site. Marrying these abstract claims with the empirical reality of security regulation in contemporary European law helps to establish democratic credentials within the AFSJ and links the question of justice to that of justification and ultimately proportionality in AFSJ law.