Addressing citizen rights, liberties and security, this event aims to create connect students to the professional world of legal issues.
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication at the Universidad Europea is celebrating the first edition of Legal Week. This initiative will be attended by a variety of professionals from the institutional world of judiciary, law and procurement, agents responsible for the security of the institutions and bodies of the state of law to discuss the rights, liberties and security of citizens. Representing the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez Ruiz, led the inaugural conference after a welcome speeches by the Chancellor of the Universidad Europea, Elena Gazapo, and the Dean of the Faculty, Francisco García Pascual.
Under the slogan ‘Liberty and Security in Democratic Spain’, Rafael Pérez Ruiz highlighted that “it is not about choosing between freedom and security, rather realising that a combination of both is key for the two values to prevail”. Furthermore, during his speech, he underlined that “public issues are always complex and difficult to solve, particularly in a context of globalisation and the age of new information and communication technologies. Therefore, achieving a sufficient standard of security, without adopting legislative and operational measures which affect rights such as freedom of movement, of assembly, of intimacy or of speech, require a huge effort in public spirit and significant belief in democracy when it comes to making decisions. The Rule of Law should always be present in the solution taken, giving the necessary legal coverage and security to the different measures adopted in each circumstance. All this, together with the necessary counterbalances and guarantees which prevent any type of authoritarian temptation”.
The Chancellor has highlighted the “importance of legal professionals with profiles that can understand the technological challenges we face”. Furthermore, Elena Gazapo emphasized the commitment of the Universidad Europea to achieving academic excellence. “Our wish is for all our students, future professionals in the fields of law and security, to deal with the current complex nature of law and the activity of public administrations in the fields of justice and security, both in public and private professional practice. We also want them to be aware of their unique role as one of the fundamental players in sustaining our social system and democracy”.
Over the course of these two days, there will be a series of round-table discussions with the presence of prestigious professionals in the field such as Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Director of the Department of National Security of the Presidential Cabinet of the Spanish Government; and Elvira Sanz, President of Save the Children. At these symposiums, a range of experts from the field will discuss the new challenges of digitalisation in legal matters; the Spanish territorial model; Security, Defence and the role of the State in democracy; and the rights and protection of immigrant minors.