In his farewell lecture at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Jon Schilder draws attention to the Team Public Order and Intelligence (TOOI): a branch of the police that secretly gathers information to protect public order, often with the help of informants.
'While the powers of national intelligence agencies are laid down in law, there is no specific legal framework governing the actions of the TOOI,' Schilder notes. 'That raises fundamental questions about legitimacy, privacy, and democratic oversight.'
Infiltration without frameworks
TOOI operates under the authority of the mayor and monitors, among others, climate activists, football hooligans, and other groups perceived as risks to public order. However, the way this is done, often quietly and sometimes through infiltration, is barely regulated by law.
'The power to interfere with people’s private lives in this way must be properly justified and accountable,' says Schilder. 'And in this regard, key safeguards that are essential in a constitutional democracy are missing.'
Schilder's career
Throughout his career, Schilder closely followed developments in legislation, jurisprudence, and administrative practice related to nuisance control, the right to protest, and the fight against drug-related crime. In academic journals and reports for scholarly associations, he not only offered critical analysis but also made concrete policy recommendations, sometimes on his own initiative, sometimes commissioned by the government.
He also contributed to practice by giving training courses to civil servants, lawyers, and judges. Recently, he helped develop a framework for the national government, a decision-making tool designed to assess whether a mayor should be assigned a new enforcement task.
Transparency is not a luxury
With his farewell lecture, "The Secret Police: On Security and Privacy," Schilder calls attention to the invisible corners of state power. And that, he argues, is urgently needed: 'Precisely in the tension between security and fundamental rights, transparency is essential. Only then can society make informed choices.'
Schilder will deliver his farewell lecture on 20 June at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.