ABSTRACT
The security of the state is of the utmost importance to the integrity and well being of a nation and to individual citizens whose rights and freedoms are protected by the security of the state. On the other hand, the rights of citizens may be adversely affected by the exercise of such powers and there exists the potential for governments to hide behind the doctrine of national security in order to prevent scrutiny of executive action. The United Kingdom’s internal Security Service is known as Military Intelligence (MI) 5. The Security Service dealing with matters overseas is the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6. The government’s signals intelligence-gathering headquarters is Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. In 1952, the then Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, issued a directive to the Director General outlining the functions of the Service: The Security Service is part of the defence forces of the country.
