HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SECURITY: STRIKING THE BALANCE

Abstract

The intersection of human rights and national security presents one of the most formidable
challenges in contemporary legal and political discourse. States are constitutionally and
internationally obligated to protect both the security of the polity and the fundamental rights of
individuals; yet these dual imperatives frequently collide in practice. This article, via doctrinal
methodology, examines the conceptual, normative, and judicial frameworks that govern the tension
between human rights protection and national security imperatives. Drawing on international
human rights law, comparative constitutional jurisprudence from the United Kingdom, the
European Court of Human Rights, and the Nigerian legal order, it argues that the relationship
between security and rights is not inherently antagonistic but rather amenable to principled legal
calibration through the doctrines of proportionality, legality, and necessity. The article traces how
legislative and executive overreach in the name of security has been judicially reviewed across
multiple jurisdictions, and evaluates the particular challenges facing Nigeria as it contends
simultaneously with jihadist insurgency, banditry, and systemic governance deficits. It concludes
that durable national security is best achieved not through the suppression of rights but through
their principled enforcement within a robust rule-of-law framework, and offers recommendations
for normative and institutional reform.