There should be constitutional oversight of intelligence services;
this is almost impossible in Sweden.
Relevance to Poul Anderson's works
The Psychotechnic Institute is overthrown because it operates unconstitutionally;
we would like to know more about such issues in the Terran Empire;
the Time Patrol operates openly during the periods after the discovery of time travel but how do the human governments of those periods deal with the Danellians who: (i) control the Patrol; (ii) are not human; (iii) do not exist yet?
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
We do get a hint or two in the Flandry stories that laws and regulations placed some limits on what the Imperial Naval Intelligence Corps could do. In Chapter XVI of THE REBEL WORLDS, as Flandry again met with Admiral Kheraskov, the latter expressed some skepticism of the complete truthfulness of Flandry's report as regards his interactions with Hugh McCormac and Aaron Snelund. As Flandry responded: "His Excellency [Snelund] had personal enemies. Any one of them could have seen a chance to pay off scores. If the admiral suspects me of wrong doing, he can institute proceedings to have me hypnoprobed." And of course Kheraskov did nothing like that!
But my point was how Flandry mentioned that instituting of legal proceedings necessary to be carried out before an Imperial citizen in good standing could be legally 'probed. To me that implies there were laws (and regulations interpreting those laws) on how and when the Intelligence Corps could legally use the hypnoprobe. And if that was true of hypnoprobing it seems reasonable to think there were similar laws defining the legal scope of the Corps activities inside the Empire.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Fascinating questions, what you said about the Time Patrol when it was able to operate openly after the discovery of time traveling. I recall how Everard reflected on an agent of the Patrol from the far future he had met knew enough about the Danellians to be FRIGHTENED by them. And if that was how a Patrol officer thought, how much more would many people and human gov'ts be likely to think that way, outside the Patrol!
And I think these gov'ts would logically have no control of any kind over the Danellians, for the reasons you listed. I think the Danellians, if they were wise, would work hard to reassure them they would be not be a threat to them as long as they did not try to hinder the Patrol.
But we don't really know. All this is mere speculation!
Sean
Post a Comment